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BRITISH EXPLOITS 
IN SOUTH AMERICA 



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A SOUTH AMERICAN HOME 



BRITISH EXPLOITS 
IN SOUTH AMERICA 

A History of British Activities in Explo- 
ration, Military Adventure, Diplomacy, 
Science, and Trade, in Latin-America 

BY 

W. H. KOEBEL 

Author of "Argentina, Past and Present," "Modern Chile," "Romance 

of the River Platte," "Uruguay," "The South Americans, 

from the Social and Industrial Point of View," 

"Modern Argentina," Editor-in-Chief of the 

"Encyclopedia of South America." 



ILLUSTRATED WITH 
PHOTOGRAPHS AND OLD PRINTS 




NEW YORK 
THE CENTURY CO. 

1917 






Copyright, 1917, by 
The Cektuey Co. 

Published, May, igi? 



/ 



MAY 31 1917 

©G1.A4G2761 



THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED TO 

MY MOTHER 

WHOSE FATHER DID HIS SHARE 

OF VOYAGING UNDER THE 

WHITE ENSIGN 



PEEFACE 

Among such merits as I may claim for this work is a 
total lack of haste in its preparation. Written under the 
stress of no other pre-occupation save that caused by the 
deep shadow of the war, there has been no question here 
of a rapid gathering together of material; but rather 
that of a lengthy process of selection. To pick out the 
most salient features from the vast field of British enter- 
prise in South America is not an easy task. 

This book having been written in the comparative soli- 
tude of the country, and its sources of information largely 
derived from my own library, I have taxed the good na- 
ture of a smaller number than usual of the various ex- 
perts. It is, nevertheless, impossible for me to pass by 
the names of three gentlemen without a special note of 
thanks. 

The first of these is his Excellency Senor Don Agustin 
Edwards, that most notable Chilean Minister Plenipoten- 
tiary in London, whose kindness in obtaining information 
concerning the early British in Chile must be gratefully 
acknowledged. To Mr. Herbert Gibson I am deeply in- 
debted for similar good offices in regard to Argentina and 
to the British writers on that country. I have, more- 
over, to express my obligation to Mr. Francis Edwards, 
who has not only placed at my disposal his wide knowl- 
edge of South American bibliography but has most courte- 
ously taken the trouble to send me down for purposes of 
reference those particular books which I lacked for this 
work. 

The subjoined letter, which I found myself under the 
necessity of sending to the editor of a minor London pub- 



viii PREFACE 

lication, will explain itself. It is true that it was written 
in the heat of an indignation which appeared justifiable to 
me; but, on mature consideration, the special nature of 
this present book, written at this period, seems to de- 
mand its inclusion, sincerely reluctant though I am to 
introduce any personal matter of the kind. I include it 
in full, moreover, although some lines have no bearing 
on the subject. But this is preferable to the employ- 
ment of the asterisk — than which there is surely no instru- 
ment of the pen which lends itself more readily to the un- 
fair practices of a juggling mind. 

It is unnecessary to give the name of the publication to 
which the following was directed : 

Sir : — In this secluded spot most things, including periodicals, 
are belated. It is for this reason that I have only now been 
enabled to read your review, published on the thirtieth of Novem- 
ber, of my book. The South Americans. I have, up to now, man- 
aged to deliver myself of eighteen books without sparring with a 
reviewer — possibly because there has seemed no reason! But 
there are two points in this review of yours that cannot be passed 
over in silence. 

The first is a personal one. According to your reviewer: 
* ' The name of our author leads one to suppose that he knows a 
good deal more than he tells of the unceasing efforts of Germany 
for supremacy — not commercial supremacy alone — in some of 
the states, especially in parts of Brazil; as a matter of fact he 
dismisses this subject airily in twenty lines." 

Now this, leaping from the flat body of a review, is startling, 
and imbues one with the sensations of a sitter on a needle-point 
concealed in a cushion! If the words have any meaning at all, 
sir, they surely convey the gravest slur on the loyalty of one 
who has never willingly missed an opportunity of pointing out 
the German peril, not only in South America, but elsewhere. 
Those who are familiar with my work — and I am fortunate in 
that, though clearly lacking your reviewer, their number is not 
small — know that I have laboured this very point with persistence 
for the last ten years. They, I am sure, will not need from me 
any comment on this imputation. The others (I suppose, sir, 
that it would savour too much of egotism to class them as the 
"remainder"?) will, I hope, accept my unqualified denial that 



PREFACE ix 

there is the faintest ground for this queer insinuation concern- 
ing some dark and mysterious knowledge which I am jealously 
guarding from the British public. 

As regards the precise degree of taste in interpolating such 
matter, on such evidence, in a review — well, I do not think that 
I have any peculiar reason to be sensitive on this point. As one 
whose father held a commission from Queen Victoria, and as 
one who at the outbreak of the war alone out of five brothers 
— the number is no longer intact — did not hold a commission in 
the regular forces, I cannot produce a blush of shame even to 
gratify your reviewer! Moreover, that I am still a civilian is 
the fault, not of four years on the shady side of the slacker's 
haven (forty) but of a slightly sprung heart. So much for a 
personal outpouring rendered unavoidable by our critic. 

The second point I can turn to with some relief, since it is 
not of an intimate nature, and since it seems to me to come within 
the reviewer's legitimate province. In any case it strengthens 
my theory that I have the misfortune not to count your reviewer 
among my readers. According to him, again: "Mr. Koebel 
cannot know much of Pernambuco or its surroundings, or he 
could not have failed to observe the copious and interesting 
Dutch remains still to be seen in that part of the continent." 

I freely admit that an ambiguous sentence which the reviewer 
has picked out might produce this supposition — in the mind of 
one who has not read on and arrived at the description of these 
very Dutch remains at Pernambuco (p. 265). 

Accept my apologies for the length of this letter, which is 
primarily due to the fact that it is not only men having the 
advantage of homely names who pride themselves on being Eng- 
lish. There are others, such as, 

Yours very truly, 

W. H. Koebel. 
Castle Combe, 
Combe Martin, 
N. Devon. 

These latter apologies must be repeated here to the 
present reader. May his breast be free from that justi- 
fied resentment which one who has paid to enter a place 
of public entertainment must experience when he finds 
himself buttonholed and drawn into a corner for an in- 
timate and heart-to-heart talk with a performer whose 



X PREFACE 

rightful place is on the stage, and whose private affairs 
are a mere matter of boredom to others ! Nevertheless, 
it is preferable to run this risk than to permit the re- 
motest doubt of the loyalty with which the affairs of the 
British in South America are regarded in these pages. 



CONTENTS 
PART I 

THE NAVIGATORS 
OHAFTEB FAQE 

I The Romantic Period in South America ... 3 

II The First English Mariners to Sail the Spanish 

Main 15 

III The Beginnings of British Trade with South 

America 46 

IV The Buccaneers 80 

PART II 

THE BRITISH IN COLONIAL SOUTH AMERICA (-^^ 

V Early British Adventures in Spanish America . 101 
VI Some Eighteenth-Century British Voyages to 

South America 116 

VII The British Expedition to the River Plate . . 141 
VIII British Guiana and the Falkland Islands . . 156 
IX British Fighters in the Cause of South Ameri- L^ 

can Independence (I) 163 

X British Fighters in the Cause of South Ameri- 
can Independence (II) 188 

XI British Fighters in the Cause op South Ameri- 
can Independence (III) 214 

PART III 

south AMERICA IN THE EARLY PART OP THE 
NINETEENTH CENTURY 

XII The First British Relations with the New 

Republics .:- 235 

XIII Early Travelers and Traders in the Republics . 255 

XIV The British in Brazil (I) 281 

XV The British in Brazil (II) .;.... 295 

XVI The British in Brazil (III) 311 

XVII The British in Brazil (IV) 327 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER FAQB 

XVIII The British in Brazil (V) 340 

XIX The British in Brazil (VI) 364 

XX The British in the South American Internal 

Wars 374 

PART IV 

scientific and literary observers 

XXI Some British Naturalists in South America . 395 
XXII South America in English Print 420 

XXIII Achievements of the British in the Nineteenth 

Century (I) 481 

XXIV Achievements of the British in the Nineteenth 

Century (II) 494 

XXV Achievements of the British in the Nineteenth 

Century (III) 512 

XXVI To-day and To-morrow in South America . . 525 

Appendix 553 

Bibliography of Modern Works 555 

British Arrivals in the River Plate at the Be- 
ginning OP THE XIXth Century .... 570 
Index 573 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

A South American Home Frontispiece 

TAOING PAGE 

Sir John Hawkins ..." 20 

Sir Francis Drake 20 

The Santos Eiver in Brazil 48 

Old Fort at Mouth of Santos Eiver, Brazil 48 

Island of Juan Fernandez 88i 

Valdivia, Chile (1836) 102' 

Conference of President O 'Higgins with the Indians . . 112 

Ambrose O 'Higgins 124^ 

Sir Home Riggs Popham 144 ^ 

Lieutenant-General Whitelocke 144 

General San Martin 168 "^ 

General Bolivar 184 '^ 

An Early View of Valparaiso, Chile 190 '^ 

Plaza de la Independencia, Santiago, Chile (early XlXth 

century) 206 ' 

Araucanian Witch Doctors at "Work 218 '^ 

An Early Raid by Araucanian Indians, Chile 228^ 

A British South American on His Rancho 244 

British South Americans 244 

Crossing the Andes 262 

South American Indian Encampment 276 

Rio de Janeiro (1809) 300 

Landing Stage, Rio de Janeiro (early XlXth century) . . 332 

Public Gardens (1835) 332 

Sugar Loaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro 372 

Garibaldi 380 v' 

General Rosas 380 ^^ 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

TAOINO 

PAQE 

South American Indians 412 

South American Cattle 432 

South American Oxen 432 

Early View of Valparaiso, Chile 456 

Plaza San Martin, Mendoza, Argentina 472 ' 

Cattle Market at Montevideo 488 

Plaza Constitucion Station, Buenos Aires 496 

Avenue de Mayo, Buenos Aires 496 

South American Indians 508 ' 

Old Print of the Llama and Indians 508 

A Modern British South American Ship 516 

Early Type of Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Ship . . 516 

Railroad Construction in South America 520 

Forest Clearing in South America 520 ' 

Viaduct Construction in South America 532 

Bridge Construction in South America 532 

Avenue Rio Branco, Rio de Janeiro 548 

Street Scene in Rio de Janeiro 548 ' 

The publishers acknowledge with thanks the courtesy of The Royal Mail Steam 
Packet Company in supplying several of the above illustrations. 



PAET I 
THE NAVIGATORS 



BRITISH EXPLOITS IN 
SOUTH AMERICA 

CHAPTER I 

THE ROMANTIC PEEIOD IN SOUTH AMERICA 

The charm of the Americas — Iberian navigators — Prince Henry of Portu- 
gal and his seamen — Some famous captains — Columbus — ^Manner in 
which the English were attracted to the new lands — The English 
crusaders as comrades of the Portuguese — Ramifications of friend- 
ship which succeeded the first alliance — The interchange of Portuguese 
wines and English cloth — The alliance consolidated in battle against 
the Spaniards — The treaty of Windsor — The marriage of John of 
Portugal to Philippa of England — Prince Henry, the navigator of 
English blood on his mother's side — Some ethics of the slave trade — 
Effect of the discoveries of the new lands upon the English in Portu- 
gal — The return of the galleons — Awakening of the navigating spirit 
in the West of England — The story of Robert Machin — ^Romance which 
is alleged to have led to the discovery of Madeira by the English — 
Death of Machin and Anna d'Arset — Links connecting the tale with 
the accepted discovery of the island by Joao Gongalves Zarco — Se- 
bastian Cabot — His South American discoveries made in the Spanish 
service — Condition of South America when William Hawkins, father 
of Sir John, set sail for that continent in 1530 — Achievements already 
effected by the navigators and conquistadores — Iberian colonization — 
Extent of the continent occupied — Questions of Indian and Negro 
labor — Doctrine of Las Casas — ^The early English navigators unwit- 
tingly act as the avenging spirits of the slaughtered Indians — Mis- 
taken policy of the Spanish Einpire. 

THE rich flavor of such names as the Spanish Main 
and the South Seas has retained its charm almost 
unimpaired from the dawn of the New World to 
the present day. For four centuries the promise of the 
new and rich lands has drawn adventurers from the 
North to compete with each other and with the descend- 



4 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

ants of those Iberian conquistador es who first set foot on 
the neck of a wondering continent. 

The tale of the early Iberian navigators is clear enough, 
from the brave band of Portuguese voyagers, fathered 
by Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal, to Columbus 
and his comrades. It was the Portuguese who first drove 
boldly into the Western Ocean. Their seniority as dis- 
coverers is not to be questioned. It was some three 
quarters of a century before Columbus set sail for the 
West when their two seamen, Bartholomeu Perestrello 
and Joan Gongalves Zarco, discovered the islands of 
Porto Santo and Madeira respectively in 1419 and 1420: 
But after this the more famous of the Portuguese navi- 
gators, such as Nuno Tristao, Vasco da Gama, and Pedro 
Alvarez Cabral (although this last was at a later period 
responsible for the discovery of Brazil), forsook the west- 
ern course for the southern, and, fringing the African 
coast, turned to the east, and sought India and China by 
way of the Cape of Good Hope. 

The significance of the voyages of Columbus and of the 
other navigators in the service of the neighboring king- 
dom of Spain is perhaps even more generally understood. 
The manner in which one of these great events followed 
on the heels of another has been made abundantly clear. 
But what of the English? How did these Northern 
islanders come to put their spoke into these new wheels 
of land and water from which their home was so remotely 
situated? What was it that first set on the track of the 
tropical seas the bearers of such charmed names as Haw- 
kins, Drake, Ealeigh, Cavendish, and Dampier? For a 
sufficiently comprehensive answer to all this it is neces- 
sary to hark back to a precolonial age, almost three cen- 
turies before the discovery of Madeira. 

It was as early as 1147 that a number of English cru- 
saders, on their way to the Holy Land, halted on the 
banks of the Tagus, and assisted the Portuguese to cap- 
ture the city of Lisbon from the Moors. The men of the 



ROMANTIC PERIOD IN SOUTH AMERICA 5 

oak and the men of the olive found that, however much 
they might differ in complexion, they had at least much 
sympathy in common. Thus was begun the alliance be- 
tween England and Portugal. 

The relations between the two countries rapidly be- 
came consolidated. The following year, 1148, we find an 
Englishman, Gilbert of Hastings, as Bishop of Lisbon. 
In 1217 another fillip was given to this international 
friendship by the arrival of a second, and more formid- 
able, army of English crusaders, by whose assistance a 
Moorish army of fifty-five thousand men was completely 
defeated. 

Nearly twenty years after the falling through of a 
proposed matrimonial alliance between the English and 
Portuguese royal houses, the earls of Lancaster and 
Arundel arrived in Portugal in 1344, charged with an 
important mission of friendship, and three years after 
this some further matrimonial schemes were drawn up, 
but these, too, proved abortive. These delicate failures 
seemed to have no ill effect on the relations between the 
two countries. Commercial bonds had now entered into 
the field to strengthen the military friendship. Through 
the instrumentality of a young Portuguese wine mer- 
chant, sent on a mission to London, many special agree- 
ments and clauses were arrived at between the English 
and Portuguese merchants. As a result, the red wines 
of the Douro Mountains and the CoUares and Algarve 
slopes began a northward journey in ships, which they 
have continued practically without intermission from 
that day to this, while the first consignments of an 
equally lengthy and unbroken procession of English 
clothes began to come rolling southwards across the Bay 
of Biscay. 

It is certainly curious that in those days of small and 
cranky ships we should have established our most inti- 
mate relations with a people dwelling just the wrong side 
of the dreaded Bay of Biscay ! The bay whose entrance 



6 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

is guarded by the jagged and equally menacing rocks of 
Ushant! But so it was. At the beginning of the four- 
teenth century English merchants were already familiar 
with Portuguese soil, while in 1381 two thousand fresh 
English men-at-arms set sail for the Tagus. Four years 
later these were followed by five hundred English arch- 
ers, who fought side by side with the Portuguese among 
the vines and olives, and whose long-bows twanged to 
some purpose on the field of Aljubarrota, where the Cas- 
tilian knights went down before them. 

In 1386, the following year, the treaty of Windsor con- 
firmed the Anglo-Portuguese alliance, and this friend- 
ship — no new thing even at the time of the compact — ^has 
lasted, practically unbroken, from that day to this. 
Surely this must constitute the oldest-standing known 
treaty in the history of the world ! 

The following year John of Gaunt triumphantly en- 
tered Portugal at the head of an English army of two 
thousand lances and three thousand archers, and on the 
second of February, 1387, his daughter Philippa, by his 
first wife, Blanche of Lancaster, was married to King 
John of the then solid realm of Portugal. 

Those who have taken the trouble to wonder what 
these affairs of crusaders, cloth, and port wine have to 
do with the English in South America will now begin to 
obtain some inkling. For one of the issue of this mar- 
riage was Prince Henry the Navigator, the first and 
greatest patron of deep-sea voyagers, who devoted him- 
self heart and soul to the science of discovery. It was 
he who called astronomers and mathematicians to his 
aid, and who, zealously studying the problems of the 
ocean in his austere Sagre Castle on the southern Portu- 
guese coast by Cape St. Vincent — the nearest point 
in all Europe to tropical America! — directed the voy- 
ages of those famous mariners who sailed into the un- 
known. 

Thus the friend and patron of the Portuguese sea cap- 



ROMANTIC PERIOD IN SOUTH AMERICA 7 

tains — the leading navigators of their day — was of Eng- 
lish blood on his mother's side. It was under his au- 
spices that central and southern Africa, India, and Brazil 
were discovered, and that Lisbon became the western 
gate of Europe, while decaying Venice bewailed the loss 
of her monopoly of the overland trade route to In- 
dia. 

From the modern point of view it can scarcely fail to 
militate against Prince Henry's repute that he should 
have been the founder of the Negro slave-trade. But, 
according to the morality of the fifteenth century, the 
procedure was not only excusable; it was sound policy. 
For centuries the Portuguese had become accustomed to 
the enslaving of prisoners in the hands of the Moors, and 
they themselves — in common with all the European na- 
tions of the Mediterranean coast line — ^had retaliated in 
similar fashion, until that degraded condition had grown 
to be regarded as a part of ordinary life. The war-worn 
and depopulated lands of Southern Portugal were sorely 
in need of tillers. It must be the business of his captains, 
the Navigator decided, to supply this need. A point of 
interest in connection with this is that it was owing to 
their intimate association with the Portuguese, whose ex- 
ample they copied, that the English first approached the 
coasts of Spanish America as carriers of those slaves who 
were destined to labor in the mines and plantations of the 
conquistador es. 

The noises of these great discoveries sounded but dully 
in the ears of most of the Northern Europeans, who had 
small means of grasping fully what was afoot. But the 
case was very different with those English who, encour- 
aged by the crown and welcomed by the inhabitants, 
found themselves in Portugal at that period. These saw 
with their own eyes the return of the deeply laden gal- 
leons, as their painted bows breasted the rapid tide of 
the broad Tagus. They watched the processions bear- 
ing treasure, spices, strange woods, and stranger aborig- 



8 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

inal huinan beings from the landing place at Belem to 
the center of Lisbon. 

They heard, moreover, with their own ears the barking 
of the cannon and the booming of the church bells that 
saluted the return of a rich armada from the Indies or 
Brazil. Many of them made overtures to the returned 
mariners, and, over deep cups of Lisbon wine, listened 
eagerly to the tales of the glittering South — tales of what 
the sailors had actually seen, as well as those vaporings 
of their vivid imaginings concerning what lay behind the 
mere fringe of the New World that they had so far ex- 
plored. 

When these tales floated northwards from the blue 
skies to the gray, they were answered by a stir in the 
blood of the Englishmen, more especially in the West, 
the center of the chief intercourse with Portugal, where 
the bales of cloth slid down into the holds and the barrels 
of wine rumbled out on to the quays. We thus at length 
arrive in England, together with these amazing reports 
and rumors ! Very soon the echoes of these began to be 
heard in Plymouth, where William Hawkins, a fine old 
sailor of King Henry the Eighth's, was preparing to 
unfurl his sails for the first equatorial voyage ever made 
by an Englishman with an English crew. 

But before we get into the stride of this — or into the 
wash of Hawkins' wake, whichever you prefer — let us 
dispose of three remaining preliminary matters and thus 
clear the decks for consecutive action. 

The first of these concerns the story of Robert Machin, 
almost certainly the first Englishman, mythical or phys- 
ical, to sail the Western Ocean. The legend runs that in 
the first half of the fourteenth century there lived in the 
southwest of England a man, Robert Machin, of a gentle 
but impoverished family. In an ill-starred moment he 
became enamored of a lady, Anna d'Arset, of a rank 
superior to his own. In addition to her noble birth, Anna 
d'Arset possessed rare beauty, large fortune, and stern 



ROMANTIC PERIOD IN SOUTH AMERICA 9 

relatives. These last, observing with sordid anger that 
the Lady Anna regarded Machin with favor, caused him 
to be flung into prison, and presently forced Anna d'Ar- 
set into a marriage with an abhorred but wealthy noble- 
man. 

The marriage once celebrated, all futile romance was 
considered at an end. The detested husband bore his 
bride away to his castle near Bristol, and Machin, now 
considered a negligible factor, was released from his cell. 
But his persecutors had failed to reckon with the real 
ardor of the foiled lover. Machin, collecting a small band 
of tried friends, proceeded to Bristol, and opened his 
plan of campaign. He succeeded in communicating with 
the Lady Anna, whose conjugal ideas appear to have been 
in advance of her times, and eventually procured her es- 
cape from the castle. This once effected, the entire 
party fled from Bristol in a small vessel, hoping to reach 
France. But the elements showed no greater pity upon 
the lovers than had Anna d'Arset's family. Assailed by 
tempestuous weather, the amateur sailors missed their 
desired port, and in great tribulation were tossed about 
for days on the broad, roaring ocean. 

On the dawn of the fourteenth morning, the hapless 
wanderers discerned the loom of a dark mass across the 
waters. Full daylight revealed an island. They had ar- 
rived at a fair spot, Madeira. The storm had died away ; 
all was peace and sunshine now. White and yellow birds 
flitted about the vessel, while for a background stood the 
fairylike island. 

Here Machin landed, accompanied by his ladylove and 
some others of the party. But misfortune still dogged 
the pair. Lost in the rapture evoked by their surround- 
ings, the small company delayed the landing of such few 
necessary articles as they had brought with them. A 
sudden tempest arose and blew the vessel from its an- 
chorage out to sea. The next morning there was no trace 
of it, nor of the party that had remained on board. This 



10 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

final catastrophe marked the end of the beautiful Anna 
d'Arset, doubtless much weakened by her sufferings at 
sea. Neither the beauty of the spot nor the presence of 
Machin sufficed to counteract the shock. She expired in 
the arms of her agonized lover, and he, for his part, sur- 
vived her but a few days. 

Machines last request to his friends was that his re- 
mains should be placed in the same grave with those of 
his beloved. His wish was faithfully executed. Above 
the bodies of the ill-fated couple was erected an altar 
shaded by the branches of a stately tree. Upon the altar 
was inscribed the tragic history of Machin and Anna 
d'Arset, and a pious request that if Christians should 
ever come to settle in the island they should erect a 
church upon the spot. 

A number of the earlier historians seem inclined to 
give full credence to this story. Gaspar Fructuoso, the 
sixteenth-century Portuguese chronicler, for one, en- 
deavors with some seeming success to pick up links con- 
necting the tales told by the survivors of Machin 's voy- 
age with the accepted discovery of the island by the 
one-eyed explorer, Joao Gongalves Zarco, in 1420. 

Even at the present day the very rare visitors to the lit- 
tle Madeirense town of Machico — the nomenclature is sig- 
nificant — are shown a very small and ancient chapel, 
which is said to be in part the original building which 
Zarco piously constructed over the bodies of the dead 
lovers. 

But the features of the tale, if they ever existed in 
material life, are much obscured by the mist of ages. 
Perhaps at this stage of the book it may seem that I have 
dragged in Machin and the Lady Anna rather superflu- 
ously by their dead or mythical heels. I have merely in- 
troduced them to show the possibility that an Englishman 
made an excursion into the Western Ocean before any 
other European plowed it with his keel on his way to the 
Americas in search of the road to India. 



ROMANTIC PERIOD IN SOUTH AMERICA 11 

The second matter may be tackled with considerably- 
more assurance, since, concerning Sebastian Cabot, it 
rests at least on a secure historical basis. The memory 
of Cabot, great navigator and explorer though he was, 
suffers just a little from the variety of his interests, when 
living. The name of Columbus, though himself an Ital- 
ian, is an indissoluble part of the birthright of every 
Spaniard. There are other explorers, too, whose feats 
have made them part and parcel of a land which could 
not claim them by birth or descent. 

But the case of Cabot is not on all fours with any of 
these. A Venetian by birth and an Englishman by 
choice, he served the Spanish Empire as well as the land 
of his adoption. On this account it is a little difficult to 
determine the neighborhood of his correct niche in his- 
tory. It is doubtless owing to this that some inevitable 
neglect has supervened, and that many of the more inti- 
mate details of his career are unknown. *'He gave Eng- 
land a continent," says an American author, "and no 
one knows his burial-place." 

Some side issues of the evil fate which has dogged this 
great man's memory enter even into these pages, for, 
although Cabot, having two Englishmen in his company, 
sailed southwards to investigate Brazil and the river 
Plate in 1527, and thus formed one of the first flight of 
the explorers of the South American mainland, he 
achieved this not in the English service but as a high 
official of the Spanish marine. So, for the particular 
purposes of this book Cabot must remain unclaimed, and 
the first of the English keels to enter the Southern Ocean 
and our picture must be that of the first of the three most 
notable generations of navigating Hawkins'. 

Before setting sail with him we must take a rapid sur- 
vey of South America as it was when the first flight of 
seamen from the North were preparing to invade its pri- 
vacy. 

When William Hawkins set sail from Plymouth in 



12 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

1530, the tide of Iberian colonization had not yet swollen 
to its full flood. Spain had succeeded in planting her 
foot firmly on the coast of what is now Venezuela and on 
the Isthmus of Panama, whence she was preparing to 
send her forces southwards to conquer the Pacific slope. 
But the great Empire of the Incas still lay intact among 
its gigantic mountain ranges, and Pizarro had not yet 
destroyed the Inca rule, nor slain the Emperor Atahu- 
alpa, nor plundered the heavy gold of the sacred cities 
near Lake Titicaca. 

It was only on the eve of such mighty occurrences as 
these that William Hawkins sailed his ship out of Plym- 
outh. At that period, too, was still lacking the Span- 
ish colonizing stream which, headed by Pedro de Men- 
doza, was to set in from the southeast and embrace the 
countries of the river Plate and Paraguay. 

The coast of Brazil had been explored by Cabral, Pin- 
zon, and others, and the wonted stone pillars engraved 
with the arms of Portugal had been left at various points 
on the shore. Moreover, the Portuguese, following an- 
other custom of theirs, had marooned a few of their 
condemned criminals among various tribes of the coastal 
Indians — a procedure which had a double advantage in 
that it served to test the real sentiments of the Indians 
(for if the Portuguese were found alive in their midst 
by any subsequent expedition it might be taken for 
granted that the natives were friendly!), and to prepare, 
by this humble and somewhat maculate instrumentality, 
the mind of the aboriginal for the advent of the white 
man. 

But the actual settlements of the Portuguese on the 
Brazilian coast had as yet scarcely come into being. 
Bahia, the first real center of Portuguese colonization, 
was still the haunt of Indians, and Rio de Janeiro itself 
had not yet even been discovered. 

It was only on a narrow strip of the right shoulder of 
the continent, therefore, that active colonizing was pro- 



ROMANTIC PERIOD IN SOUTH AMERICA 13 

ceeding. Elsewhere the red-skinned South American In- 
dian was still permitted to attend to his own affairs 
himself and had not yet been forced into the fatally hard 
labor of the mines, which sent so many millions of these 
unfortunate folk to their death. 

It is true that the pity which cannot fail to be meted out 
for the sufferings of these long-dead Indians is in some 
instances apt to be tempered by a closer acquaintance 
with some branches of the modern race. After reading 
''Richard Spruce," for instance, the inclination is to be- 
stow an extra amount of commiseration on the aboriginal 
female and a lesser amount on the male. That botanist's 
opinion of the average Indian of the forests with whom 
he was brought into contact was that : 

''He is naturally apathetic and dislikes exertion; but 
he makes his wife work like a slave. On the Rio Negro 
I have seen the poor women grating mandiocca by moon- 
light until midnight; and they must be stirring before 
daybreak to give their husband his morning drink ; while 
he, extended in his hammock, is warming his nether ex- 
tremities near a fire which must not be allowed to go out. 
When I had seen this, I felt no pity for the Indian when 
the white man took him by force to row his boats and do 
other work for him. * ' 

But this comment affords no excuse for the methods 
adopted by the conquistador es. 

Those who endeavor to follow the workings of fate and 
of a poetic justice, which is only too rare on this earth, 
may derive an instance from the retribution which over- 
took the Spaniards in their inhuman policy toward the 
aboriginal tribes. So stupendous was the wastage of 
native life that the Indian's best friend, Bishop Las 
Casas, saw no other remedy but the homeopathic measure 
of the introduction of the Negro slave — in order that the 
sturdy African should bear part of the other's burden, 
and that, instead of the extinction of the one race, the 
two should continue to live and to labor side by side. 



14 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

The remedy served well enough to tide over the crisis ; 
but it was in this remedy that lay the seeds of incalculable 
loss and tribulation to the Spaniards of the succeeding 
generations. For it was this transport of the Negro 
slave from West Africa to South America that brought 
upon the scene such men as Sir John Hawkins and his 
bold sea-dogs. And when the Spaniards, resenting the 
growing familiarity of these sailors with their tropical 
coasts, turned upon them to chase them away, they fre- 
quently enough found the proof that they had caught a 
tartar in the torn planks of their sinking galleons and 
the smoke and flames of their burning coast towns. 

So the early English navigators — although they had 
no intention of posing for the part — of which, indeed, they 
were profoundly unconscious — served as very efficient 
avenging spirits of the countless slaughtered Indians. 
At the same time it must be candidly supposed that this 
retribution would never have been brought about had not 
the Spaniards begun their long, incessant, and hopeless 
struggle to retain as their close and private property the 
territories of a continent and a half ! 

It is clear enough now that no empire, however ma- 
jestic, could build a fence strong enough to shut off so 
large a part of the world from the rest of the earth's 
inhabitants. But Spain made a conscientious and costly 
endeavor to achieve the impossible, and it was in the 
course of frustrating this attempt that the admirable 
group of Elizabeth's English sailors learned much of 
their seamanship ! 



CHAPTEE II 

THE FIEST ENGLISH MAEINEKS TO SAIL THE SPANISH MAIN 

William Hawkins not the first Englishman to sail South American seas — 
Sir Thomas Pert — Thomas Tison — William Hawkins' voyage to the 
Brazilian coast — Marine superstitions of the period — William Haw- 
kins' intercourse with the Brazilian Indians — One of these latter is 
taken to England to be shown to King Henry VIII — Notwithstanding 
the Indian's death, the English hostage is released by the Brazilians 
on William Hawkins' return to Brazil — Other early voyagers — Robert 
Eeniger — Thomas Borey — Thomas Pudsey — Sir John Hawkins — Span- 
ish attitude toward foreign seamen — Pope Alexander VI's division 
of the earth — Establishment of the Inquisition in Lima — John Haw- 
kins carries slaves from West Africa to Spanish America — Respecta- 
bility of the sixteenth-century slave trade — General theories concern- 
ing the Negro — John Hawkins' financial supporters — Reception of his 
squadron in Hispaniola and on the mainland — A profitable expedi- 
tion — John Hawkins' second voyage — Episodes in West Africa — Trade 
complications in Spanish America — The ways of imperial officialdom 
— On his next voyage John Hawkins is accompanied by Drake — 
Drake's youth — ^How his early days were spent — Hawkins' squadron 
off West Africa — Fruitless treaty with a Negro potentate — Increas- 
ing oflBcial difficulties concerning the disposal of slaves in Spanish 
America — John Hawkins storms Rio de la Hacha — His squadron 
treacherously attacked in the harbor of San Juan de Ulloa — Losses 
of the English after a desperate defense — ^Escape of John Hawkins 
in the Minion, and of Drake in the Judith — ^Privations endured on 
the homeward voyage — Drake's voyage in the Pacha — El Draque 
avenges San Juan de Ulloa — Depredations on the Spanish Main — 
The Pacific sighted — Captain John Oxenham penetrates to these for- 
bidden waters — His achievements there — ^Some of his men betrayed 
by floating feathers — Capture and execution of his company — Drake, 
Queen Elizabeth, and King Philip of Spain — Circumnavigation of the 
world — His squadron, men, and sentiments — Some episodes of the 
voyage — Paraphernalia of a progress of state — Feats of compression — 
Drake loses his cap to a Southern Indian — The tragedy of San Julian 
— Execution of Captain Doughty — ^The Golden Hind sails alone into 
the Pacific Ocean — The rich reward of his daring — ^The toll of the 
South Sea — Lady Elliott Drake and Miss Zelia Nuttall on Sir Francis 
Drake — A notable map— Episodes on the Pacific coast — Effect on the 
morale of the Spaniards — Drake's last voyage — In the course of a 

15 



16 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

less successful expedition — Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake 
die within a short period of each other — Andrew Barker's voyage — 
Mutinous spirit of the oflBcers and crew — Punishment dealt out to 
the survivors of an imfortunate expedition — Richard Hawkins' voy- 
age to the Spanish Main in 1593 — His theories concerning the nomen- 
clature of ships — His prolonged fight against an overwhelmingly su- 
perior Spanish fleet, commanded by Don Beltran de Castro — His im- 
pressions and observations — Chivalry displayed by the Spaniards — 
Some notable booty. 

THAT fine old sailor, William Hawkins, has some 
just — if comparatively vicarious! — demands on 
posterity, for the reason that he was the father 
of Sir John Hawkins. But, beyond this, he has more 
varied claims to celebrity. He was the first English- 
man who ever let fly the sails of his own ship to belly 
out before the trade winds, and to bear his staggering 
vessel on a successful voyage down the latitudes, leaving 
the Spanish Main to the north, as far as the coast of 
Brazil. 

It must not be gathered from this that William Haw- 
kins was the first Englishman to sail the South American 
seas. As early as 1516 a certain Sir Thomas Pert, in 
company with Sebastian Cabot, is said to have penetrated 
to these waters, and to have made a half-hearted attempt 
at a landing at the island of Hispaniola. But, according 
to Hakluyt, it appears that Sir Thomas Pert was one 
* 'whose faint heart was the cause that the voyage tooke 
none effect; if, I say, such manly courage, whereof wee 
have spoken, had not at that time beene wanting, it might 
happily have come to passe, that that rich treasurie called 
Perularia, (which is nowe in Spaine in the Citie of Sivill, 
and so named, for that in it is kept the infinite riches 
brought thither from the newfoundland of Peru) might 
long since have beene in the tower of London, to the kings 
great honour and wealth of this realme. ' ' 

Nor was William Hawkins the first Englishman to set 
his foot on South American — or West Indian — soil. It 
is known that in 1526 there was resident somewhere in 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 17 

the depths of those then mysterious latitudes an English- 
man named Thomas Tison, who is supposed to have acted 
secretly as the agent of some English merchants, and to 
whom consignments of armor and other commodities were 
sent from time to time. Beyond this, nothing seems to 
be known of the enterprising spirit of Thomas Tison. 

In Pedro de Mendoza's expedition, moreover, which 
sailed from Seville in 1534, and which founded the first 
European settlements in the Eio de la Plata and in Para- 
guay, were two or three Englishmen, the names of two 
of which are thus rendered in the Spanish records: 
Richarte Limon and Juan de Bute. 

William Hawkins, the first Englishman who success- 
fully sailed his own ship to South America, is said to have 
been one of King Henry VIII 's most valued sea-captains. 
William Hawkins made three voyages to Brazil. On his 
first voyage he left the port of Plymouth in the year 1530. 
This was only some thirty years after the Portuguese 
navigators had first set eyes on that tropical shore, and 
those on board his vessel — ^the Paul of Plymouth, of two 
hundred and fifty tons — seemed to have been little con- 
cerned with the scanty Portuguese colonists of that pe- 
riod. 

William Hawkins appears to have picked up a certain 
amount of information by one means and another. So 
that, although he was sailing into seas unknown to him, 
he was at all events spared the terrors of the first Latin 
mariners of the Atlantic, who, when caught up in the 
ceaseless and unchanging rush of the trade winds, made 
certain that their wicked and damnable daring in trying 
to penetrate into the regions beyond the world was being 
punished, and that Satan had sent this extraordinary 
breeze to blow them straight into the mouth of hell, which 
was supposed to be yawning redly somewhere below the 
horizon just ahead. 

Hawkins arrived in Brazil before the coast had been 
regularly settled by the Portuguese, and when he cast 



18 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

anchor before those shining tropical beaches backed by 
their palms he had an opportunity of personal inter- 
course with the Indians. He was anxious to show one of 
these painted and feathered specimens of humanity to 
King Henry VIII — a desire that seems to have been a 
popular weakness of that period. Where we are satis- 
fied to-day with bringing home a monkey or a paroquet, 
the sixteenth-century traveler had large ideas, and pre- 
ferred a human curiosity! 

So when William Hawkins sailed back to England he 
bore with him a Brazilian chief, as a hostage, for whose 
safe return he had left behind one of his ship 's company, 
Martin Cockaram of Plymouth. 

The Brazilian chief duly arrived in England, and was 
exhibited in his feathers and paint, in fact, '4n all his 
wild accoutrements" to bluif King Hal, who doubtless 
laughed at the man as bluffly as he did at most things. In- 
deed, as the chronicler continues, he was one: *'at the 
sight of whom the King and all the nobility did not a 
little marvaile, and not without cause, for in his cheekes 
were holes made according to their savage manner, and 
therein small bones were planted, standing an inch out 
from the said holes, which in his owne country was re- 
puted for a great braverie." 

But the poor denizen of the land of palms and sun- 
shine and blinding white sand did not long survive the 
sensation he had caused. His was the fate of many fellow 
martyrs, to say nothing of millions of those marmosets 
and parrots already referred to! Strange people, 
stranger food, and strangest climate proved rapidly fatal 
to the first native of Brazil who set his foot on the shores 
of England. 

It is true that when William Hawkins set out again 
for Brazil in 1532 the Indian was still alive. True to his 
word, William Hawkins took him on board his vessel, 
but the man — with a complete and provoking disregard 
for the safety of Martin Cockaram of Plymouth — died 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 19 

on the outward voyage. Nevertheless, on the arrival of 
the vessel, when explanation had been made and be- 
lieved, Cockaram was freely allowed to return to his 
compatriots, a circumstance which redounds infinitely 
to the good faith of both parties. 

After this there are some sufficiently vague accounts 
of various voyages undertaken about 1540 with profit to 
Brazil by the Southampton merchants, Robert Reniger 
and Thomas Borey. In 1542, moreover, a certain 
Thomas Pudsey of Southampton is said not only to have 
sailed out to Bahia de Todos os Santos in Brazil, but 
actually to have built a fort there. 

The next to take up the quest of regular commerce in 
the southern seas was William Hawkins' son, the famous 
Sir John, who undertook his first important voyage in 
1562. 

By this time, the frontier delimitations of the whole 
globe had been settled between the Spaniards and Portu- 
guese. Pope Alexander VI, when appealed to, had ar- 
ranged the affair in a manner which contemporary opinion 
considered as inspired. He had simply taken a pen, and 
had drawn a direct line one hundred leagues westward 
of the Azores from pole to pole. Excluding Europe, the 
effect of this partition — though the boundary was after- 
wards moved closer to the setting sun — ^was that all the 
lands and oceans to the west of this line belonged to the 
Spaniards, and all the lands and oceans to the east of 
it became the property of the Portuguese. 

This is undoubtedly the most comprehensive present 
ever recorded in history. Moreover, the mere fact of a 
subsequent heretic protest to the effect that the Pope had 
won this record reputation for generosity at the expense 
of other people's property scarcely affected the value of 
the gift at the time it was made ! 

By this time, too, the lesser lights of the Roman Church 
had been busy in their own way, and as early as 1533 the 
Inquisition set out across the ocean and established itself 



20 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

in its dungeon-infested palace in Lima in order to be 
prepared with some acute physical discouragements for 
those heretics who might dare to sully the South Amer- 
ican atmosphere with the blight of some foreign faith ! 

So the empire of the New World had already issued its 
warning and clanged to its gates, when the free-lance, 
John Hawkins, dared to sail southwards through the 
bright blue waters and the shoals of flying-fish to the out- 
raged and threatening shadow of the Spanish Main. His 
advent heralded an unquiet period for the authorities of 
the Indies, for he was the first bold wasp to buzz about 
the ears of the Spanish giant. 

Hawkins' first relations with the Spaniards of South 
America were by no means hostile. His little vessels — 
the Soloman, the Swallow, and the Jonas — of which the 
largest was of 120 tons and the smallest 40 — carried that 
cargo for which the whites of South America were clam- 
oring. Under the reeking hatches her hold was crammed 
full of valuable black ivory — Negro slaves ! Hawkins had 
sailed from England to Sierra Leone, and had gathered 
these in with the scant ceremony to which the unfortunate 
human chattels were destined to become accustomed in 
those days. 

It is no doubt regrettable enough that the English 
should have made their first definite trading appearance 
in South America in the light of slave carriers. But 
the ethics of the sixteenth century differed widely from 
those of to-day. At that period there was no question 
even of by how much the Negro was less than the white ; 
the only surmise was by how little he was better than 
the beasts ! This doubt was fully shared by the clergy, 
who, for a long period after the Negro had become Chris- 
tianized, hesitated to admit him to the sacraments. In 
fact, although humane persons were protesting against 
the ill-treatment of slaves, it was far from occurring 
either to cleric or to layman that there was anything rep- 
rehensible in the actual traffic in human beings. 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 21 

Indeed, John Hawkins had very solid commercial com- 
pany in his venture, for, ''being amongst other partic- 
ulars assured, that negroes were very good Marchandise 
in Hispaniola, and that store of negroes might easily bee 
had upon the coast of Guinea, resolved with himself to 
make triall thereof, and communicated that devise with 
his worshipfull friendes of London: namely with Sir 
Lionell Ducket, Sir Thomas Lodge, M. Gunson his father 
in law. Sir William Winter, M. Bromfield, and others. 
All which persons liked so well of his intention, that they 
became liberall contributers and adventurers in the ac- 
tion." 

It is important for Hawkins ' repute that this should be 
made clear. His morality must no more be judged by 
this commerce than must Queen Elizabeth's table man- 
ners from the fact that she — and all her courtiers — fre- 
quently used fingers where we should use forks. John 
Hawkins was not going in the least against contemporary 
opinion when he carried to Hispaniola three hundred of 
those unwilling but profitable passengers! 

If anything will make this clear it is his instructions to 
the officers of his squadron on a subsequent slave-carry- 
ing voyage: ''Serve God dayly, love one another, pre- 
serve your victuals, beware of fire, and keep good com- 
panie." 

These show to us John Hawkins as we would have him : 
they are emphatically not the words of a man with an 
evil conscience. 

There may yet come a time when we of to-day shall be 
held up to unborn generations as interesting examples 
of a barbarous age when men forced horses to labor by 
flogging them and by stabbing steel points into their 
sides ! 

When Hawkins arrived off the great Island of His- 
paniola he was received with mixed feelings. So great 
had become the demand for Negroes that — although the 
local authorities fumed and chafed — ^he was welcomed by 



22 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the colonists with open arms, and managed to dispose of 
his sorry human wares at an enormous profit. As a re- 
sult, his three ships, accompanied now by two additional 
freighters, returned, loaded as deep as they could con- 
veniently sail with hides, ginger, sugar, and some far less 
bulky packets of pearls ! 

So brilliant were the financial results of this trip that 
Hawkins undertook another voyage with two ships and 
two barks in 1564. On this occasion his squadron was a 
considerably more imposing one. It consisted of the 
Jesus of Lubech, a great ship of some 700 tons ; the Tiger, 
a bark of 50 tons, and the Soloman and Swallow, which 
had accompanied him on the previous voyage. The 
squadron was manned by 170 men. In the course of their 
slave gathering on the west coast of Africa the expedi- 
tion would seem to have come into contact with some 
peculiarly unsophisticated tribes of Africans, who at 
first took no notice of the arquebuses, ''but used a mar- 
veilous crying in their fight with leaping and turning 
their tayles, that it was most strange to see, and gave us 
great pleasure to beholde them. At the last, one being 
hurt with a harquebuz upon the thigh, looked upon his 
wound and wist not howe it came, because hee could not 
see the pellet." 

Then, when the hungry holds had been restocked with 
human freight, the vessels sailed across the warm ocean 
to the tropical islands of the Spanish Empire. 

But this time the various Spanish governors showed 
themselves more resolute in their determination to pre- 
vent any trade between these foreigners and heretics — 
intruding now for the second time — and the colonists. 
Moreover, when these latter met with a governor who 
was more amenable in this respect, they found that both 
the officials and the colonists were now intent on obtain- 
ing the slaves at a price which was very far below their 
market value. There were more departments than is 
usually imagined in the profession of an Elizabethan navi- 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 23 

gator. Hawkins had now to meet these Spanish wiles 
with some guile of his own. So he sent for the '' princi- 
pals of the Towne, and made a shewe hee would depart, 
declaring himselfe to be very sory that he had so much 
troubled them, and also that he had sent for the gov- 
ernour to come down, seeing nowe his pretence was to 
depart. ' ' 

This ruse prevailed, and the Spaniards, falling into the 
trap, begged him to remain. Nevertheless he had to re- 
peat such haggler's tricks as this on several occasions 
before he concluded a satisfactory sale of all his slaves. 
But when it came to the demand for a royal tax of thirty 
ducats for every slave sold, stronger measures became 
necessary. Nothing short of a landing party of one hun- 
dred men armed to the teeth had to be brought forward 
as an argument here. But these proved entirely success- 
ful in convincing the governor that the ordinary tariff of 
seven and a half per cent, was all that could be reason- 
ably demanded in this case. 

After this another feint of departure brought up the 
buyers in earnest, and the last slaves were satisfactorily 
disposed of. Then the squadron set sail for England, and 
arrived safely at Padstow in Cornwall, with a total loss 
of no more than twenty men, "and with great profit to 
the venturers of the said voyage, as also to the whole 
realme, in bringing home both golde, silver, Pearles, and 
other Jewels great store." 

On his next voyage Hawkins was accompanied by 
Drake — El Draque, of the Spaniards — ^who commanded 
the little fifty-ton bark Judith. Heroic cycles would seem 
to belong to the youthful, as is surely exemplified looking 
backwards from Napoleon's generals across the ages. At 
the time of this voyage Drake was twenty-two years of 
age! But he could already look back upon an adven- 
turous life. 

Drake 's early youth in his father 's cottage on the beau- 
tiful banks of the Tavy must have been of a scrambling 



24. BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

and rough-and-ready order, for the means of the family- 
were slender, and he was the eldest of twelve! It may 
have been his father's appointment as chaplain to the 
fleet stationed in the Medway which gave young Francis 
Drake his first taste for the sea — or, to be more accurate, 
materialized the instinct that had been his from his birth. 
In any case he was early afloat. At the age of eighteen 
he had been purser of a bark trading with the ports of 
Biscay. And now here he was, in command of the little 
Judith, under the leadership of Hawkins, his commodore 
and fellow Devonian, on a venture to these balmy new 
Southern territories that held fabulous riches and moun- 
tains of gold — somewhere inland ! 

The expedition, which sailed in 1567, paid its indispen- 
sable preliminary call on the West African coast. On 
this occasion they found the natives warier than before. 
Sambo had no more mind to turn himself into merchandise 
than had a sheep to transform itself into mutton. But 
these navigating traders were men of resource. They 
made an alliance with a Negro king who had fallen out 
with a neighboring monarch. By the terms of this, Haw- 
kins, in return for his military assistance, was to receive 
all the prisoners captured in the proposed battle. When 
the battle had been fought and the victory had been won, 
Hawkins observed with pleasure that his dusky ally had 
captured some six hundred prisoners: he himself had 
secured two hundred and fifty. But the next morning's 
sun rose on a scene of vacant deceit ! The African victor 
had disappeared — and he had taken his six hundred pris- 
oners with him! The sable potentate, it appears, was 
also a man of resource! 

So Hawkins was obliged to set up to the West with no 
more than the two hundred and fifty Negroes who were 
the trophies of his own men's prowess. Arrived off 
Spanish America, they found the colonists were once 
again only too glad of an opportunity of trading with 
them. But on this occasion the authorities at Rio de la 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 25 

Hacha were firm in their refusal to permit any dealings 
with the foreigners. Enraged at this, Hawkins stormed 
the town, though the nations were at peace, and succeeded 
in secretly disposing of all but fifty of his slaves to the 
colonists in the night. But this act cost him the bitter 
enmity of the Spaniards. 

Soon after this a storm drove Hawkins' squadron to 
the north, and they took shelter at the Mexican port of 
San Juan de UUoa, where a number of treasure ships 
lay at anchor. The situation was a curious one, and 
doubtless the English sailors fretted not a little at their 
bits at being crowded so temptingly close together in the 
small harbor with these vessels laden with gold and silver. 
Nevertheless they honorably kept the peace, and suffered 
the treasure to remain in what they considered the wrong 
holds ! As for the Spanish officials of the port, they be- 
gan to breathe freely again when they found that these 
dreaded Northern sailors only required to purchase some 
victuals. 

The next day thirteen Spanish vessels appeared off 
the harbor. Hawkins, viewing this spectacle with some 
unease, sent to ascertain their intentions, and received 
an assurance that these were friendly. So, unopposed by 
the English, the thirteen vessels entered the already 
crowded harbor. That which followed has been told 
many hundred times. The Spaniards broke faith, and 
the quiet of the port was shattered by the sudden din of 
battle and slaughter, as the Spaniards treacherously took 
advantage of the close proximity of the vessels to attack 
the English. 

The majority of these were slaughtered before they had 
time to prepare themselves for defense (Sir Francis 
Drake is reported on a subsequent occasion to have esti- 
mated the dead at three hundred), but some were en- 
abled to take a heavy toll of their assailants. Before the 
fight was ended the Spanish admiral's vessel and two of 
her consorts were destroyed, and presently the lazy, flap- 



26 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

ping buzzards glutted themselves with equal zest on Eng- 
lish and Spanish corpses. 

Only the Minion, in which was Hawkins, and the little 
Judith, commanded by Drake, managed to escape. Un- 
prepared for sea as they were, they made their way to 
England as best they could, and — mauled and short- 
handed — arrived in a pitiable condition, their crews hav- 
ing barely kept themselves alive on the ships' rats and 
on their pet monkeys and parrots, and such other crea- 
tures as they had collected. 

'*If all the miseries and troublesome affaires," says 
John Hawkins bitterly, ' ' of this sorrowf ull voyage should 
be perfectly and thoroughly written, there should neede 
a painefull man with his pen, and as great a time as he 
had that wrote the lives and deaths of the Martyrs. ' ' 

An English Merchant, John Chilton, who is quoted 
later, remarked on a relic of the tragic expedition which 
he saw in the Mexican town of Tehuantepec: ''Heere in 
the yeere 1572 I saw a piece of ordinance of brasse, called 
a demy culverin, which came out of a ship called the Jesus 
of Lubec, which captaine Hawkins left in S. Juan de 
Ulloa, being in fight with the Spanyards in the yeere 1568 ; 
which piece they afterwards carried 100 leagues by land 
over mighty mountains to the sayd city, to be embarked 
there for the Philippinas. " 

The careers of Hawkins and Drake seem to have been 
curiously bound up with one another. This first really 
serious misfortune in the careers of both they suffered 
in company, and the two were destined to sail together 
in their final great venture — the memorable voyage from 
which neither returned. 

The actual monetary loss incurred by the. expedition in 
this attack at San Juan de Ulloa was two millions of 
ducats ; but it would have taken a great many such dis- 
asters to discourage that great seaman Drake perma- 
nently. Four years or so after that affair he hoisted 
his sails again for the forbidden coasts in the Pacha, a 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 27 

vessel of seventy tons, and his brother accompanied him 
in the Swan, a little craft of twenty-five tons. Here was 
a typical expedition such as set out from the west country 
in those days : a squadron of two vessels not mustering a 
hundred tons between the pair of them, and having a 
total complement of seventy-three men and boys ! 

It is true that Drake was subsequently joined on the 
South American coast by an Isle of Wight ship, com- 
manded by a Captain Eawse, that brought the strength 
of his crews up to one hundred and fifty men. But even 
so, what a force with which to tweak the might of Spain 
in its own waters ! 

It is only possible, of course, to follow the doings of 
Drake and of his peers in the most sketchy fashion here. 
It is — or should be — a matter of commonest history how 
the Pacha became a terror to the Spanish Main, and how 
fully El Draque avenged San Juan de Ulloa. He paid 
special attention to the Isthmus of Panama, for it was 
across this that ran the famous "gold roan," the track 
cut through the dense tropical forest, along which the 
trains of laden mules transported the riches of Peru and 
the Pacific to the Atlantic coast for shipment to Europe. 
And when Drake and his men, boldly penetrating in- 
land, planted themselves astride this road, there was a 
pretty flutter among the royal caravans, and a profitable 
spilling of gold and silver! 

It was on one of these incursions that Drake, between 
the graceful palm-tops and the bright festoons of tropical 
flowers, caught sight of the Pacific Ocean glittering in the 
distant "West. Then and there he swore an oath that he 
would one day navigate those forbidden waters for the 
honor of England. 

But, though he kept his word, he was not destined to 
be the first Englishman to float upon those waters. John 
Oxenham has that honor. In 1575 that daring captain 
sailed to the neck of the continent with seventy men in a 
ship of one hundred and forty tons, ran his vessel ashore, 



28 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

concealed her with a mass of tropical vegetation, and 
forced his way with all his men through the dense forests 
of the isthmus until he gained the Pacific shore. There 
he built himself a pinnace forty-five feet in length, and 
in it he and his men floated at length upon the strictly 
guarded waters of the South Sea! 

The material rewards of this great venture were not 
long in forthcoming. Of two barks captured, the one 
yielded sixty thousand pesos in gold, the other, one hun- 
dred thousand pesos in silver. After obtaining some 
pearls, in addition, he proceeded inland up the river. 

The outraged Spaniards were now in full chase. A 
strong force of men sped to the mouth of the stream. 
Here they lay in doubt for a while as to which of the 
three branches they should ascend, when a great many 
birds' feathers, floating down in light betrayal on the 
water, revealed which of the streams it was up which 
the English had traveled. Never had plucked birds a 
more dramatic posthumous revenge! 

Owing to this a small party of Englishmen was dis- 
covered near the spot, and, in the end, after a fierce fight, 
John Oxenham, and those of his men who had not been 
slain, were made prisoners. 

Most of his men were hanged at Panama, though one 
or two boys were spared ; but Oxenham and two or three 
others were taken to Lima, and were imprisoned there 
for a considerable time before being executed as a penalty 
for their daring. When it came to Drake 's turn to navi- 
gate the Pacific he had reason to suspect that these com- 
rades of his were actually imprisoned in the dungeons 
of Lima, when he was off Callao, the port of that town. 
But neither warnings and threats directed to the viceroy, 
nor an attack on the shipping of the harbor, could effect 
their release, and Drake was forced, reluctant, to sail 
away and to leave Oxenham and his men to the mercies 
of the Inquisition. But all this has brought us ahead of 
our proper period. 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 29 

Drake returned to England with his vessels deeply 
laden with booty. Elizabeth — who, with all her varied 
virtues, never lacked an eye to the main chance — re- 
ceived him cordially, and extended to him her royal en- 
couragement to set out again. "We do account that he 
who striketh at thee, Drake, striketh at us," said the 
Queen. 

A more tangible mark of her favor was a green scarf 
with ornamental red bands at both ends, on which were 
embroidered it is said, by her maids of honor — the words, 
**The Lord guide and preserve thee until the ende." 

And then, no doubt, she sent a message to Philip of 
Spain complaining how little control she had over people 
like Sir Francis Drake ! Elizabeth was a great queen, but 
she had her weaknesses, not the least of which was that 
of opposing guile to ponderous force, and of indulging in 
that diplomat pastime which modern slang would know as 
pulling Philip of Spain 's leg ! 

She found a more than willing horse in Drake, whose 
views exactly coincided with those of the Queen. In- 
deed, it was no doubt with considerable glee that he pro- 
pounded his theories to her concerning the chastening of 
Philip of Spain, explaining the **smale good that was to 
be done in Spayne, but thonly waye was to anoy hym 
by his Indyes. ' ' 

The next voyage was the most famous that Drake un- 
dertook, for it was in the course of this that he circum- 
navigated the world. This feat, as a matter of fact, had 
already been accomplished by Magellan's expedition. 
But, since Magellan had been slain on the homeward way, 
it followed that Drake, although his expedition was the 
second, was himself actually the first commanding navi- 
gator to sail round the world. 

So far as the material side of the expedition was con- 
cerned, Drake seems to have intended this more espe- 
cially in reprisal for the surprise attack on Hawkins' 
squadron at San Juan de Ulloa. For all its insignificant 



30 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

size, it was to be a punitive fleet. Drake himself made 
some rather quaint and humorous observations concern- 
ing his objects : * * For the reason that the King had, since 
that time, been his treasurer for the sum that had been 
taken from him ten years ago, he now wished to act as 
treasurer of the King's estate. Therefore the silver 
which he took from the King was for himself; the silver 
taken from private individuals was for his Queen, his 
Sovereign Lady. ' ' 

He embarked on this voyage in 1577, and this time he 
set out with some pomp. It is true that the largest 
vessel of his five ships, the Pelican, was of no more than 
120 tons, while the smallest, the Christopher, was a 
cockleshell of 15 tons. The total number of his "gentle- 
men and sailors," too, was only 164. 

Nevertheless, since this mission of Drake's was of a 
far more official character than his previous undertakings, 
he made a brave show of it. He saw no reason why the 
Dons should have it all their own way in the matter of 
dignity and splendor. So he adorned his cabin with much 
silver, and many handsome fittings. ''Whereby,*' as he 
said with no little reason, "the credit and magnificence 
of his native country might ... be all the more ad- 
mired." 

Who can fail to admire the shrewd intelligence of 
Drake! Three centuries and a half ago he had already 
discovered that which sovereigns and statesmen have 
only fully begun to realize to-day — that a little judicious 
advertising may benefit captains, cruises, countries, and 
causes quite as much as merchants who own shop win- 
dows, and have goods to sell ! 

Drake's thoroughness did not end here. He engaged 
what he described as "an orchestra of expert musicians" 
who should serve to make his entry into the Southern 
Seas the more imposing. The addition of this harmoni- 
ous luxury to the crowded space must have involved an 
astonishing feat in the way of packing, when the size of 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 31 

the little Pelican is remembered. Indeed, how these 
musicians — crammed sardine-like together with the ser- 
ried inhabitants, provisions, and warlike stores of a 
vessel that did not much exceed in size a modern sailing 
trawler — could have delivered themselves of sweet strains 
is not easy to understand. Yet we are told that they 
did, and that they gave many pleasant entertainments 
in tropical seas both to Drake's fellow countrymen and 
to his Spanish prisoners. How was it done? How was 
this extraordinary feat of compression achieved? The 
main secret undoubtedly lay in the fact that the value of 
ventilation and elbow room had not yet been discovered! 

After all, the region of comfort is included in that of 
science, which means that its benefits have to be sought 
for as assiduously as were once the unknown lands of the 
earth. But there all similarity ends; for, whereas the 
horizon of the earth has steadily contracted, that of 
science has expanded with an astonishing rapidity. 
Surely the sense of discomfort is only awakened by the 
knowledge of something better ! We, who travel in town- 
like liners, probably do not pity the cooped-up commu- 
nity of the Judith any more deeply than Drake's men com- 
miserated their remote forefathers who pushed out from 
the shore in little round basket-like coracles of hide ! 

Drake sailed southwards along the ocean track that was 
gradually becoming familiar. He snapped up some 
prizes in the Atlantic, and then, taking in fresh water in 
the broad estuary of the river Plate, bore southwards to 
the *' roaring forties," driving through the warm belt of 
the tropics to the wild and gray waters on the further 
side, until he came to an anchorage where the uncouth 
Southern Indians proved themselves moderately friendly, 
and some intercourse was attempted. Judging by the 
following occurrence these wild people were no respec- 
tors of persons : 

''These people would not of a long time receive any- 
thing at our handes; yet at length our generall being 



32 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

ashore, and they dauncing after their accustomed manner 
about him, and hee once turning his backe towards them, 
one leapt suddenly to him, and tooke his cap with his golde 
band off his head, and ran a little distance from him and 
shared it with his fellow, the cap to the one, and the band 
to the other. ' ' 

Such an incident must have been irritating in the ex- 
treme ; but Drake undoubtedly restrained his temper, for 
no untoward incident followed. After this he set forth 
to the south again until he arrived at the haven of San 
Julian, a few degrees north of the eastern entrance to the 
Straits of Magellan, through which he intended to pass. 

On the rugged shore of San Julian the English mariners 
discovered a grim object — a giblet pricking up gauntly 
against the desolate sky. It was the one, it was imagined, 
from which Magellan had hung some of his rebellious 
crew. The bones of the victims, it is even said, were 
found close by. This must have seemed an ominous mes- 
sage, left behind by the first ship 's company that had ever 
gained Europe by that road to the second band of daring 
men who were about to follow, from Atlantic to Pacific, 
on their heels ! 

If the object had been placed there as a warning the 
sinister omen held good, and the superstition that none 
could pass with impunity into the Pacific Ocean had yet 
another link added to the unbroken early chain of tragedy 
that supported it ! It was in this very bay of San Julian 
that occurred the execution of Doughty, one of Drake's 
captains. Both the cause and justice of this act have been 
in dispute for too many hundreds of years to make it 
probable that the veil will ever be lifted from the tragedy. 
It is certain that Drake received the sacrament in com- 
pany with Doughty on the last day of the condemned 
man's life. Then the two dined together, pledged each 
other, and immediately afterwards Doughty, rising from 
the table, walked out to bare his neck for the executioner's 
ax. 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 33 

For so young a port, San Julian had a strangely gloomy 
record. 

After this Drake navigated the Magellan Straits, where 
the trees "seeme to stoope with the burden of the 
weather," changing the name of his vessel from the Peli- 
can to the Golden Hind in the middle of the passage. 
But, when he had emerged into the Pacific and had passed 
from the stormy southern waters into temperate lati- 
tudes and sunshine, the Golden Hind sailed alone. Of 
the two other ships which had been in his company when 
he left San Julian, one, the Marygold, had been blown 
by a withering tempest to an unseen death somewhere in 
the dark and icy South. Captain Winter, of the second 
vessel, the Elizabeth, appears to have had enough of it, 
and, in the face of the protests of his crew, put about, 
achieved the feat — then supposed impossible — of navi- 
gating the Magellan Straits from west to east, and sailed 
back to England, arriving at Ilfracombe on the 2d of June, 
1579. 

But Drake went on. That which he achieved with a 
single ship, manned now by a force of just over eighty 
men, makes breathless reading. He beat up the Pacific 
coast, and found the reward of his daring. Tall ships, 
pieces of eight, bars of gold and silver, precious stuffs, 
silks, Chile wines and Peruvian jewels: all these came 
tumbling in rich profusion into his net, while the aston- 
ished peaks of the Andes looked down with a dry and 
cold smile. It is true that the manner of boarding the 
first ship they came across lacked a good deal in polite- 
ness. For here they were mistaken for friends, and were 
about to be greeted with the offer of wine when, "one 
of our company called Thomas Moone began to lay about 
him, and strooke one of the Spaniards, and sayd unto 
him, Abaxo Perro, that is in English, Goe downe, dogge." 
All this time the panic was spreading along the shores 
of the most private waters of the Spanish South Sea, 
and, lest the dwellers on those coasts should experience 



34 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

an unjustifiable sense of ease and security, now and 
again Drake would arrange a land excursion ! 

Indeed the disturbance caused by this unwelcome visit 
of Drake's was extraordinarily far-reaching. No longer 
could the loads of silver be carried from one port to an- 
other in safety on the broad bosom of the Pacific. In- 
stead of this convenient transport, the ingots had to be 
placed on the backs of mules and llamas and be painfully 
and toilfully carried across the mountainous country. 
And all along the coast were now posted points of ob- 
servation, with the bonfires stacked in readiness to send 
up their warning smoke. 

It would seem a curious axiom of history that, the fur- 
ther one is removed by time from a famous character, 
the closer are the glimpses obtained of his personality 
and private habits ! Each separating generation, in fact, 
seems to throw back a longer ladder of popular knowledge 
than the last. 

It is only quite recently, for instance, thanks to the re- 
spective works of Lady Elliott Drake and Miss Zelia 
Nuttall, that some of Drake's more intimate touches have 
been placed on record. To those who have looked on him 
merely in the light of a bluff sailor his intimate knowledge 
of the Spanish tongue will come as rather a surprising 
revelation. Curiously enough, too, it has been left to the 
recently unearthed testimony of some of his Spanish 
prisoners to point out Drake 's hobby of painting, and how 
he and his young cousin, John Drake, would amuse them- 
selves for hour after hour by painting in Sir Francis' 
cabin. 

It is Miss Zelia Nuttall, too, who has pointed out a 
remarkable proof of Drake 's patriotic ambition and keen 
judgment, which is also, by the way, referred to in Hak- 
luyt. This is patent on a map corrected by him — a map 
on which he has placed a northern limit to Spanish Mex- 
ico, and on which the words *'Nova Albio" indicate the 
very territory which afterwards became the southern 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 35 

part of the British colonies! This land would seem to 
be well to the south of that Nova Albio so christened by- 
Drake for two reasons : ' ' The one in respect of the white 
bankes and cliffes, which lie towards the sea: and the 
other, because it might have some affinitie with our 
Countrey in name, which sometime was so called.** To 
a student of Drake the importance of this discovery is 
not to be overestimated. 

*'It thus appears," says Miss Nuttall, '*as though the 
present occupation of the North American continent by 
the Anglo-Saxon race is, after all, but a realization of 
what may be called Drake 's Dream. ' * 

To return to the Pacific and to the cruise of the Golden 
Hind: there is a lighter side to the most weighty adven- 
tures, and not all the incidents were epoch-making, or 
even dignified ! There were minor episodes, such as that 
which occurred one day when a party, having landed, 
found a Spaniard fast asleep on shore, having thirteen 
bars of silver by his side. **We took the silver and left 
the man," they explained joyfully. They would certainly 
have stormed a great galleon in the same cheerful mood. 
But it happened to be very easy hunting that day, and 
this kind of thing is not likely to go down to history as 
one of the great incidents of Drake's life! It was cer- 
tainly a flea bite in the way of plunder compared with the 
capture of the great Spanish ship Cacafuego, which 
yielded over £200,000. And a sovereign in those days had 
as much value as a dozen of our modern ones. 

Incidentally, there were others besides the Spaniards 
who suffered in pocket from Drake 's visit to these shores. 
Here for instance is the plaint of an English merchant, 
John Chilton, one of the few examples of that period who 
made himself at home among the Spaniards in Europe, 
and was permitted to sail from the Peninsula to the new 
world, with apparently all the privileges and rights to 
Vrode that were possessed by any native-born Spaniard. 

Chilton must have regarded Drake 's advent with mixed 



36 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

feelings, for, when speaking of the town of "Aguatulco" 
he remarks: *'in which place Sir Francis Drake arrived 
in the yeere 1579, in the moneth of April, where I lost with 
his being there above a thousand duckets, which he tooke 
away. ' ' 

Drake sailed his rich ship home by way of the Molucca 
Islands, Java, and the Cape of Good Hope, dropping an- 
chor at Plymouth on the 26th September, 1580, after a 
voyage of two years and ten months. On his return with 
enormous treasure Queen Elizabeth most adroitly man- 
aged to keep the enraged Spanish ambassador at one 
arm's length while she extended the other to Drake. 

One day in the spring of the following year the Golden 
Hind, decorated and burnished, lay at Deptf ord to receive 
her gracious and virgin Majesty to dinner. When the 
meats had been eaten and the wines drunk, and when, the 
music having been enjoyed and the laudatory Latin verses 
nailed to the masts had been admired, Drake bade fare- 
well to his royal mistress no longer a plain master, but 
a knight. 

In 1585 Drake set out for the Spanish Main again, in 
command this time of a most formidable fleet of twenty- 
five vessels manned by some two thousand three hundred 
men. With him sailed many notable men, and his vice- 
admiral was no less a personage than Martin Frobisher. 
Perhaps the most important event of this voyage was the 
capture of the town of Cartagena, which was eventually 
ransomed by the Spaniards for the sum of one hundred 
and ten thousand ducats. 

In the course of this expedition eight captains and some 
seven hundred and fifty men lost their lives, either from 
sickness or wounds ; nevertheless the voyage was regarded 
as a successful one, and when the fleet arrived at Ports- 
mouth on the 28th of July, 1586, it was claimed with 
justice that it was to the "no small honour to our Prince, 
our Country, and ourselves." 

It was, of course, inevitable that such raids should have 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 37 

had their effect on the morale of the Spaniards, and the 
tension of the period is revealed in a letter which 
Hieronima de Navares wrote from Panama in 1590 to the 
Licenciate Juan Alonso of Valladolid. In this he remarks 
that : *'I can certifie your worship of no newes, but only, 
that all this countrey is in such extreme feare of the 
Englishmen our enemies, that the like was never scene 
or heard of: for in seeing a saile, presently here are 
alarmes in all the countrey. ' ' 

Here we have Drake at the height of his fame and suc- 
cess. Doubtless many, had they achieved half as much 
as he, would have considered their life's work done, and 
would have retired to the enjoyment of the soft airs of 
the west country varied by an occasional trip to court. 
Not so, Drake ! The call of the Spanish Main was in his 
blood, and the chastising of the Spaniard had become part 
of his creed. It was his fate to continue upon the seas 
to the end, and, his death preceded by the hangings of 
cannon, and the charges of his forces on Spanish soil, to 
have his fever-worn body sink beneath the limpid blue 
swell of the tropical seas. 

Judging by its strength, this last expedition in which 
Drake, accompanied by John Hawkins, took part, should 
have excelled all the previous ones in results. Twenty- 
one ships and nearly two thousand five hundred men 
sailed under these famous leaders from Plymouth on the 
28th of August, 1595. But the expedition was ill fated. 
Towns were captured and Spanish forces were defeated 
in the West Indies and on the Spanish Main, it is true. 
But in general its objects were frustrated, and a landing 
force, making for the town of Panama, was assailed on all 
sides in the woods, and was obliged to retreat with great 
loss. 

Before this, fever had begun to work its will on the men 
of the fleet. Sir John Hawkins was one of the first of the 
leaders to fall a victim to this. His anxiety on the ac- 
count of his son, a prisoner in the hands of the Spaniards, 



38 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

had sent him into a condition of depression which was 
deepened by the news of the capture by the Spaniards 
of the Francis, one of the vessels of the expedition — a 
misfortune that revealed its plans to the Spaniards, and 
thus made the success of the enterprise almost hopeless. 
His vessel had just cast anchor in an inlet of the east 
coast of Puerto Rico, when Hawkins died. 

As fate would have it, his old friend Drake's spirit 
was within an ace of winging its way to the spot where 
the souls of all fine sailors go, within a few hours of 
Hawkins' passage to the same place. As he sat at sup- 
per in his cabin the next day opposite to the town of 
Puerto Eico a heavy shot from the fort on shore crashed 
in, wounding to death Sir Nicholas Clifford and Mr. 
Browne, damaging Captain Stratford and one or two 
others, and actually striking the stool from under Drake 
himself, without causing him any hurt! 

But the fever was less merciful. On the 15th of Janu- 
ary, 1596, Drake was stricken down. He made that gal- 
lant fight for his life that was to be looked for in such 
as he, and an hour before his death he rose and attempted 
to dress himself. On the 28th of January he passed 
away, and was solemnly buried at sea in the presence 
of Sir Thomas Baskerville and all his captains. 

We may hark back for a short time to some lesser men 
than Drake, and to a voyage which was marred chiefly on 
account of the mutinous conduct of those who partici- 
pated in it. Master Andrew Barker of Bristol appears to 
have been a peculiarly unfortunate man. In 1574 a 
cargo of goods which he had sent to Teneriffe was confis- 
cated at the instance of the Inquisition. In order to 
avenge this and to reimburse himself, Andrew Barker 
fitted out two barks — the Ragged Staff e, of which he him- 
self was captain and Phillip Roche, master; and the 
Beare, of which William Coxe of limehouse was captain 
and master — and with these he set out for the Spanish 
colonies. 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 39 

From the moment the vessels left Plymouth the tone 
of their companies seems to have been a little reckless, 
judging from the conscious, and seemingly unusual, recti- 
tude betrayed by this phrase : ''in our course we met with 
a ship of London, and afterwards with another ship, but 
tooke nothing from either of them." 

Nevertheless, after they had visited Trinidad, where 
the Indians gave them ''friendly and courteous enter- 
tainment," they found legitimate prey in a Spanish 
frigate, overhauled near Cartagena, which contained some 
gold, silver, and emeralds, "whereof one very great being 
set in gold, was found tied secretly about the thigh of a 
frier. ' ' 

It may have been the sight of these treasures that in- 
creased both the greed and the mutinous spirit of Andrew 
Barker 's officers and men. Judging by the events of the 
voyage, Andrew Barker could have possessed few of the 
qualities of a leader. At Veragua his relations with his 
master had grown so strained that they landed to fight 
a duel, in the course of which Barker was slightly 
wounded in the cheek. After this, when off the island of 
San Francisco, William Coxe, the master of the Beare, 
took a hand in the general insubordination. Coming on 
board the Ragged Staff e, he took possession of the ship 
and its treasure, and sent Barker ashore, where the lat- 
ter fought with a German of the name Weiborne, both 
being wounded. 

So occupied had they been with their own affairs that 
these turbulent spirits had overlooked the possibility of 
damage at the hands of the Spaniards. They were re- 
minded of this by a sudden attack by these on the men 
ashore, in which the unfortunate Andrew Barker and 
eight of his men were killed. 

This disaster appears to have sobered William Coxe 
for a while. He consented to receive on board again 
those of the English who survived on the island, and 
soothed the conscience of his crew by dividing among them 



40 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

a golden chain which had been found in Andrew Barker's 
cabin after his death. 

But ill luck dogged the expedition. Raiding boat 
parties were chased by Spanish warships; the captured 
frigate was capsized in a squall, and in her were lost 
fourteen lives and much treasure, while shortly after this 
Philip Roche died. The remnants of the party, having 
divided among themselves such little booty as remained, 
returned furtively to England. But there their crimes 
were brought home to them, and John Barker of Bristol, 
the brother of the dead Andrew, haled them before the 
justices. That the chief malefactors were punished by a 
long term of imprisonment instead of death would seem 
to prove that, in the opinion of the judges, there had been 
faults on all hands. 

The morals to be deducted from this voyage are too 
abundant and patent to need any emphasis here! On 
this occasion, moreover, the spirit of poetic justice ap- 
pears to have been peculiarly thorough, for, although 
some of the lesser criminals "escaped the rigor of man's 
law, yet could they not avoide the heavy judgement of 
God, but shortly after came to miserable ends. Which 
may be example to others to shew themselves faithfull 
and obedient in all honest causes to their Captaines and 
Governors." 

Richard Hawkins, the son of John, and therefore of 
the third South Sea navigating generation of the Haw- 
kins, sailed for the Spanish Main in 1593. The style 
in which he describes his numerous adventures is diffuse 
but quaintly gallant. 

He tells us that he caused to be constructed in the river 
of Thames a ship of between three and four hundred 
tons, ** pleasing to the eye, profitable for stowage, good 
of sayle and well conditioned. ' ' 

There was a considerable to-do about the naming of 
this ship. The Lady Hawkins (whom Richard Hawkins 
terms his mother-in-law by which term he means, I take 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 41 

it, his stepmother) craved this privilege. But the name 
she chose, the Repentance, came as a shock to Kichard 
Hawkins. He considered it uncouth, and told her so. In 
vain. Lady Hawkins absolutely refused to modify her 
views on nomenclature. All the satisfaction that he ever 
obtained from her was her expressed conviction that, 
** repentance was the safest ship we could sayle in to 
purchase the haven of Heaven." 

This seems to have consoled Eichard Hawkins to a 
certain extent, for he remarks, "Well I knew, shee was no 
Prophetesse, though a religious and most vertuous lady, 
and of a very good understanding. . , .'* 

At the same time Eichard Hawkins has much to say 
concerning the giving of these names of celestial char- 
acter. What luck did the Revenge ever have? Had she 
not been all but cast upon the Irish coast? Had she not 
run ashore coming into Plymouth, with his father. Sir 
John, aboard? Had she not all but sunk of a leak off the 
coast of Spain, turned ''topsie-turvie" at her moorings 
in the river of Eochester, and suffered other catastrophes 
too numerous too mention ? And in her last voyage, when 
fifteen hundred Spaniards and three Spanish ships 
perished about her, did she not give England and Spain 
just cause to remember her ? ' * What English died in her, 
many living are witnesses: Amongst which was Sir 
Eichard Greenfield, a noble and valiant gentleman, Vice- 
Admirall in her of her Majestie's Fleete, so that well 
considered she was even a ship loaden and full fraught 
with ill successe." 

So much for the Revenge. But, after all, the Repent- 
ance was not destined to go to sea under so ill-omened 
a name. As she lay at Deptford, Queen Elizabeth, pass- 
ing down the river in her barge, caught sight of her, 
and commanded her men to pull round her. The Queen, 
"viewing her from Post to Stemme, disliked nothing but 
her Name, and said that shee would Christen her a-new. ' ' 

So the Repentance fell at one royal swoop from her 



42 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

austere pinnacle to the opposite and light and airy pole of 
the Daintie. But this cheering metamorphosis worked no 
good in the long run. Once in South American waters, 
after some successful cruising, Hawkins found himself, on 
a June day in 1594, surrounded by an overwhelmingly 
superior Spanish fleet under Don Beltran de Castro. 

Eichard Hawkins made preparations for a most gallant 
defense, which lasted three days; '*we hayled first with 
our noise of trumpets; then with our waytes, and after 
that with our Artillerie. ' ' 

The English commander has a very great deal to say 
concerning the lessons that should be learned from this 
fight — of the best methods of employing ships, cannon, 
and leaders ; of Spanish ideas of discipline and strategy ; 
of the benefits of ** glistering" armor compared with over- 
indulgence in the alcoholic cup, and of the foolishness of 
mixing gunpowder with wine. He does not appear to 
have been over-sanguine concerning the merits of wine 
itself, a rare doubt in those days, for he complains : "Al- 
though I had a great preparation of Armours, as well of 
proofe as of light Corseletes, yet not a man would use 
them ; but esteemed a pott of wine a better defense than an 
Armour of proofe. ' ' 

But no armor or wine — whatever their respective claims 
— could hope to prevail against the immense superiority 
of the Spanish forces. The time came when the Spanish 
proposals of terms had to be considered seriously, though 
not until they had been frequently rejected : '* Came wee 
into the South Sea to put out flagges of truce?" cries Sir 
Richard in gallant indignation. ''And left we our pleas- 
ant England with all her contentments with intention and 
purpose to avail ourselves with white ragges and by ban- 
ners of peace to deliver ourselves for slaves into our 
enemies' ranks'?" 

But what would you ? Torn sails, perished masts, rent 
pumps, fourteen shots under water, eight feet of water in 
the hold, many slain men, and scarcely a whole one among 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 43 

those that survived — these are not the factors with which 
to snatch a victory against overwhelming odds. Richard 
Hawkins, himself bleeding from six wounds (" one of them 
in the necke very perillous") found himself hesitating be- 
tween two alternatives. In his hand was the glove sent 
to him as a guarantee of good faith by Don Beltran de 
Castro; in his memory was the broken Spanish pledge 
from which his father had suffered at San Juan de Ulloa. 

In the end he struck his colors, the only alternative left 
him if he wished to preserve a man of his crew alive. In 
this instance at least he found that his confidence had not 
been misplaced. When the Spaniards came aboard it was 
with shouts of "Buena Guerra! Buena Guerra! Hoy 
por mi, manana por ti!" which may be translated thus: 
* ' Honorable Warfare ! Honorable Warfare ! To-day to 
me : to-morrow to thee ! ' ' 

There is surely a most pleasant touch of true chivalry 
in this, as well as in the reception with which Richard 
Hawkins met at the hands of Don Beltran de Castro. For 
the latter nobleman received him with *' great Courtessie 
and compassion, even with tears in his eyes, and words 
of great consolation," and "commanded mee to bee ac- 
comodated in his own cabbine where he sought to cure 
and comfort mee the best he could, the like he used with 
all our hurt men, sixe and thirtie at least. ' ' 

Presently, at their leisure, the Spanish and the English 
leader appear to have discussed the exact definitions of 
pirates, corsairs, and legal and honorable enemies. Sir 
Richard ** laboured to reforme the idea that the Generall 
in Peru and in all Spaine held (before our surrendry) of 
English Men-of-Warre to be pirats and corsarios." 

In this, being as mighty a man in speech as in war (to 
say nothing of some outbreaks into what in a less gallant 
fellow would perilously have approached verbosity) he 
seems to have succeeded. And then, as the intimacy of 
the two ripened, Richard Hawkins abandoned general- 
ities, and broached a topic of considerable personal im- 



44 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

portance. He strongly deprecated the custom of making 
officers (frequently needy) pay a heavy ransom, and ex- 
cusing the common soldiers (frequently better off than the 
officers) with the payment of some mere trifle. 

Considering his comparatively tender years, there is no 
doubt that Sir Richard was an all-round man, and no 
mean hand at finance ! And here again Don Beltran de 
Castro reassured him, for he promised him that, if any 
ransom at all were exacted, he should ask no more than a 
couple of greyhounds for himself, and another couple for 
his brother. 

There are other instances of Spanish courtesy in vic- 
tory which afford equally agreeable reading. But the oc- 
casions were frequent enough when the Iberian mariners, 
even if they would, had no opportunity of displaying any 
magnanimity of the kind! Apart from any qualities of 
seamanship, it was only to be expected that victory should 
rest most often with the bold and predatory sea-dogs who, 
fully prepared, swept down like hawks across the blue 
waters, and disappeared again beneath the shimmering 
horizon like the greyhounds coveted by Don Beltran de 
Castro. 

One of the bitterest pills that the Empire of Spain had 
to swallow was the fact that at its mightiest it could not 
always prevent its great galleons from suffering capture 
practically at the end of their voyage. This occurred 
with an irritating frequency at the hands of even the 
Barbary pirates, who, athirst to avenge their fathers' and 
forefathers' expulsion from Spain, would boldly sally out 
from time to time, and would strain the bleeding backs 
of their galley-slaves at the oars to board, almost within 
sight of its port, many a treasure ship that had toilfuUy 
sailed its voyage from Puerto Bello or Mexico. 

It was not only in American waters, moreover, that the 
English made their prizes. Many a one of these was 
snapped up off the Spanish coast itself, and occasionally 
even an outward vessel proved to be laden with a more 



THE FIRST ENGLISH MARINERS 45 

valuable cargo than might reasonably have been expected 
by the fortunate captor. Of this kind were the two ships 
captured in 1592 by Master Thomas White in the Amity 
of London on his homeward voyage from Barbary, after 
an action in which the Amity's crew of more than forty- 
two men and a boy used their guns with such accuracy 
upon the enemy that they ' * slew divers of their men ; so 
that we might see the blood run out at the scupper holes. ' ' 
Hakluyt gives the following account of their contents : 
** These two rich prizes were laden with 1400 chests of 
quicksilver with the armes of Castile and Leon fastened 
upon them, and with a great quantity of bulles of in- 
dulgences. . . . The loss in money to the King of Spain 
from the capture of these bulles was (in hard cash) two 
millions and 72 thousand for living and dead persons for 
the provinces of Nova Hispania, lucatan, Guatimala, the 
Honduras, and the Phillipinas, taxed at two reals the 
piece. And more for eighteene thousand bulles taxed, at 
foure reals, amounteth all to 107,700 pounds." 



CHAPTER III 

THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE WITH SOUTH AMERICA 

Trade between England and the Early Portuguese settlements in Brazil — 
Friendly relations at Santos — A burial incident — Liberal spirit dis- 
played by the clergy — John VVhitall — The first English resident in San- 
tos — His letter to his friends in London — Matters of business and mar- 
riage — Instructions concerning the first consignment of goods — How 
local difficulties of pronunciation were overcome — Arrival of the Min- 
ion with merchandise, and a present for Whitall — Edward Fenton's 
voyage — He is accompanied by John Drake, a young cousin of Sir 
Francis — Tidings of a great Spanish fleet in the Straits of Magellan 
alter the plans of the expedition — Richard Carter, an Englishman, 
found on board a captured ship — Fenton sails to Santos — He is visited 
by the inhabitants of the port, including Whitall — Entertainments and 
negotiations — Appearance on the scene of three Spanish vessels, who en- 
gage Fenton's squadron — Victory of the English — Fenton's irresolution 
— Suspicions concerning him — End of the English peaceful relations 
with Brazil, now under Spanish rule — Fate of John Drake — Curious 
circumstances concerning a man of his name in an auto-da-f4 of 1650 — 
Eobert Withrington's expedition — English and Irish on board the cap- 
tured ships — Some curious circumstances of the voyage — Trading ven- 
tures — Edward Cotton's instructions to his shipmaster — Disastrous voy- 
age of the Delight — Sufi"erings in the Straits of Magellan and on the 
Brazilian coast — A tragic home-coming — Thomas Cavendish — His voy- 
age round the world — Aspect of the ruined Spanish settlement in the 
Straits of Magellan — Cavendish's methods compared with those of 
Drake — His second voyage — Mismanagement of the attack on Santos — 
A town empty of booty — Misfortunes of the expedition — Death of Cav- 
endish — Adventures of the Desire — Privations of the crew — An able 
captain — Sufferings in the Magellan Straits — Disease, death, and hos- 
tile attack on the Brazilian coast — Result of the decay of many thou- 
sands of dried penguins — How the Desire was brought to the coast of 
Ireland — James Lancaster — How his previous residence in Portugal as- 
sisted him in his voyage to Brazil — His squadron joins company with 
that of Captain Venner — Capture of Recife and Olinda — Lancaster ob- 
tains the assistance of Dutch and French vessels — Methods by which he 
avoided a discussion with the Portuguese — Conclusion of a successful 
voyage — Sir Walter Raleigh — His navigation of the Orinoco — The 
legend of El Dorado — Effects of the landscape and of the Spaniard 
Berreo's theories upon a poetic imagination — Raleigh's impressions 

46 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 47 

given in his own words — Some questions of credulity and practical fact 
— Captains Amyas Preston, George Summers, Keymis, Berrie, and 
Leigh — Eobert Harcourt's settlement — Raleigh's last voyage — He falls a 
victim to his sovereign's feeble policy. 

UNTIL in 1580 the Portuguese Empire fell under 
the domination of Spain, the ancient friendship 
in Europe between the English and Portuguese 
gave to the English navigators the comparative freedom 
of the Brazilian seas. About 1540 a considerable trade 
sprang up between Southampton and Brazil, and — as we 
have already seen — in 1542 an Englishman of the name 
of Pudsey is said actually to have constructed a fort — 
and, presumably, to have founded a trading post — in the 
neighborhood of Bahia. 

Just before the temporary extinction of the Portuguese 
rule the relations between the English and their old allies 
appear to have been particularly cordial. This was most 
of all evident at Santos in the south of the great colony, 
where, on the news of a probable attack by the French on 
the port, the English traders who found themselves there 
at the time hastened to lend their cannon to the local 
authorities for the purpose of defense. 

Indeed, we have one picture of this period which shines 
out, a little dimly, like a star, solitary and threatened, in 
the path of black and sullen clouds. The thing arose from 
the kindly but unorthodox procedure of the Santos clergy. 
The English traders and sailors had apparently become 
accustomed to worship at the Santos church, and, on the 
death of one of them, he was actually buried in that 
Eoman Catholic building. 

When the news of this reached the ears of the high 
clerical dignitaries of the colony, they, scandalized, sent 
peremptory orders that no heretic, living or dead, was to 
be allowed to enter the sacred edifice. The priests of 
Santos, having no choice, bowed their heads in submission. 
But when they gave the message to the English they soft- 
ened its harshness by every means in their power, and 



48 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

begged the visitors to believe in their own chagrin and 
to think as well of them as they could. 

One of the chief — and probably the first — of these Eng- 
lish traders in Santos was John Whithall who sent home a 
most interesting letter, written on the 26th of June, 1578. 
He begins by explaining that he had intended proceeding 
to Europe, but : 

''It is in this countrey offered mee to marry, and to 
take my choice of three or f oure, so that I am about three 
dayes agoe consorted with an Italian gentleman to marry 
with his daughter within these foure days." 

There are people known as matchmakers, but it was 
John Whithall who was made by this match ! In a mer- 
cenary outburst which is largely redeemed by its frank- 
ness he confides to his friend the worldly gains which he 
is about to obtain from his prospective father-in-law. He 
does not say whether these come within the category of 
additional advantages to the marriage or in that of com- 
pensations, since not one syllable is devoted to the ap- 
pearance or character of the lady ! But the catalogue of 
what he is about to receive is detailed, including a sugar 
factory ''that doth make every yeare a thousand roves 
of sugar," and the management of another such establish- 
ment in addition. 

"This my marriage," chuckles John Whithall, "will 
be worth to mee two thousand duckets, little more or 
lesse." He is, at all events, an honest and open rejoicer, 
although he has still to prove his merits as a husband. 
He ends up this first portion of his letter in a burst of 
thankfulness : 

"I give my living Lord thanks for placing me in such 
honour and plentifulness of all things." Undoubtedly 
his joy was at its height just then, and John Whithall 
must have dreamed many golden dreams as he strolled 
by the banks of his broad river, where the purple and 
white flowering trees rose at the back of the mangroves. 
We may wonder what became of him when a few years 




OLD FORT AT MOLTH OF SANTOS RIVER, BRAZIL 





THE SANTOS RIVER IN BRAZIL 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 49 

later the spot was overwhelmed by the arrogant and 
bigoted Spanish soldiers and priests ! 

Fortunately for his peace of mind, he foresaw noth- 
ing of that. He was wholly taken up with his own 
promising plans; **My father-in-law and I shal (God 
willing) make a good qnantitie of sugar every yeere, 
which sugar we intend to ship for London from hence- 
forth, if we can get such a trustie and good friend as you 
to deale with us in this matter." 

All that glittered before Whithall as he wrote his very 
long letter to his friend Richard Staper was a golden 
commercial future. Even at that moment his acute 
trader's brain had grasped an opportunity. Would his 
friend send him out a ship — a vessel of some sixty or 
seventy tons? This argosy, you see, which was to sail 
from Europe to Brazil, was not to be much larger than 
a modern fishing smack! — laden, with *' these parcels of 
commodities or wares, as foUoweth." 

Now these wares are just of the nature that a new 
colony might be expected to desire. They included 
cloths, gowns, hollands, fustians, silks, flannels, cottons, 
frieze, shirts, hats, doublets, girdles, knives, Venice 
glasses, axes, soap, nails and fishhooks. Also there was 
to be wine from the Canaries, and **sixe dozen of Cor- 
dovan skinnes of these colours, to wit, orenge, tawnie, 
yellow, red, and very fine black." 

John Whithall then points out that : * ' To cause a ship 
to come hither with such commodities as would serve this 
countrey, would come to great gaines," more especially 
if the proceeds be invested in a cargo of the local sugar 
to freight the vessel back. It may, of course, be merely 
a coincidence that this advice should have been tendered 
just as the fortunate John Whithall was on the eve of 
acquiring a sugar factory! But in any case he reveals 
himself a shrewd fellow. 

"This voyage is as good as any Peru voyage," 
promises John Whithall, and he was probably right. 



50 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Then he makes an offer, and it will be seen that the size 
of the suggested ship has swollen just a little in the 
course of his long letter : * ' If you and Master Osborne 
will deale here, I will deale with you before any other, 
because of our old friendly friendship in time past" — 
perhaps it is to his credit that he shows himself far more 
sentimentally inclined towards past comrades than 
towards future wives. '*If you have any stomake 
thereto, in the name of God, do you espie out a fine barke 
of seventie or eightie tunnes, and send her hither with 
a Portugal pilot to this port of S. Vincent in Brazil, 
bordering upon the borders of Peru. ' ' 

Finally Whithall strikes a light on the difficulties of 
pronunciation which his name has involved, and on the 
triumphant compromise which has been effected : 

''Here in this countrey in stead of John Whitehall they 
have called me John Leitoan ; so that they have used this 
name so long time, that at this present there is no rem- 
edie, but it must remaine so. When you write unto me, 
let the superscription be unto John Leitoan." 

In whatever manner it may have been pronounced, 
John Whithall 's name was clearly sound and respected 
for commercial purposes, for in response to his appeal 
the Minion, laden with the specified goods, set sail from 
London, sighted the mountains guarding the northern 
bank of the Santos River, swung round into the stream, 
and came to an anchor near the palm-covered hill on the 
top of which stood Santos church. She bore a letter to 
Whithall from his merchant friends of London, explain- 
ing that the great credit they attach to his promises 
has caused them *' to joyne ourselves in company together, 
and to be at great charges purposely to send this good 
ship the Minion of London, not onely with such marchan- 
dizes as you wrote for, but also with as many other things 
as we thought might any wayes pleasure you, or profit 
the country." 

Toward the end of the long letter comes the news of 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 51 

a little personal present to Whithall himself: ''And in 
the meane time for a token of our good willes toward 
you, we have sent you a fieldbed of walnut tree, with the 
canopy, valens, curtaines, and gilt knobs." 

That the Minion was cordially received — not only by 
John Whithall, but by the officials and all the people — 
we know, and it is probable enough that the *'deales" 
fully justified John Whithall 's appeal. 

But this was the end of those friendly relations — or, 
if you prefer it, the death of the first promise of dawn, 
which the Spanish conquest of Portugal was to bring to 
nothing. 

Edward Fenton's expedition to South America cannot 
be ranked as one of the triumphs of the early mariners. 
Its original destination was China; but it achieved 
neither that object, nor anything else of importance, 
chiefly owing to bad leadership and to differences be- 
tween the various commanders. 

Fenton's fleet consisted of the Leicester, of four hun- 
dred tons; the Bonaventure, three hundred tons; the 
Elizabeth, fifty tons, and the Francis, a bark of forty 
tons, the property of Sir Francis Drake, and commanded 
by his young cousin John Drake. This latter was a most 
promising lad of some twenty years of age, who, as we 
have already seen, had accompanied his illustrious rela- 
tive on his voyage round the world. It was the boy John 
Drake, as a matter of fact, who had won the gold chain 
offered by Sir Francis as a prize to him who should first 
sight the treasure ship Cacafuego. 

The services of John Drake, as well as the boatswain 
Thomas Blackaller and the shipmaster Thomas Gult, 
were lent by Sir Francis Drake to Fenton, as that mortal 
of hesitating tendencies does not appear to have had any 
practical knowledge of the sea. 

After a visit to the west coast of Africa it was de- 
termined to set sail for Brazil, ''and so to appoint our 
course from time to time, if wee lost companie, to stay 



52 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

fifteene dayes in the River of Plate, and from thence to 
go for the streights, and there to ride, and water, and 
trimme our ships." 

When off the South American coast, however, the ex- 
pedition captured a Spanish vessel, from which they 
gleaned some disturbing intelligence. A powerful Span- 
ish fleet, of twenty- three ships and 3,500 men under Diego 
Flores de Valdez, it appeared, had sailed down to the 
Straits of Magellan, and was lying there in wait for any 
squadron which might attempt the passage. 

On board of the captured vessel, it may be remarked, 
were a number of friars, and an Englishman, named 
Richard Carter, who for the last twelve years had been 
dwelling at the town of Asuncion on the banks of the 
Paraguay River, a thousand miles from the coast. When 
the other prisoners were released. Carter, as well as a 
certain Juan Pinto who knew the mouth of the Rio de la 
Plata, were retained, doubtless on account of their 
knowledge of the local topography. 

On receiving the news of the hostile occupation of the 
Magellan Straits, Fenton had declared that he would pass 
through them in spite of the Spanish fleet. Presently 
his resolution wavered, and he summoned a council of 
war of his captains. How ill-assorted these latter were 
may be judged from the fact that "their opinions were 
as divers as their names ; and as much differed, as before 
this time they were wont usually to doe : onely they all 
agreed in this one point, that it was impossible for us 
to passe the streights without seeing, and incountring 
with the ships." 

From subsequent events we may feel positive that John 
Drake was not one of those who advocated the timorous 
counsel which in the end prevailed. After the captains 
had supped in company Fenton announced to them that 
he had temporarily abandoned the plan of passing 
through the straits. The question now was merely 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 53 

whether they should revictual on the banks of the Eio 
de la Plata or at the Brazilian port of Santos. 

This was soon settled. The Spanish prisoners had ad- 
mitted that food existed on the banks of the great river, 
but they had added that there was no wine available there. 
This was certainly true, as the Indian-harried settlement 
of Buenos Aires, founded for the second time scarcely 
two years before, was still in the throes of want and hard- 
ship. As at that time the importance of wine in the pro- 
vision list of a vessel was scarcely second in importance 
to that of solid food, this condition of affairs did not 
appeal to Fenton, who sailed along the coast until he 
opened up that spot in the forest-covered mountains, in 
the midst of which spread the alluvial valley of the San- 
tos Eiver. So Diego Flores de Valdez' great fleet waited 
in vain in the Straits of Magellan, and the history of the 
suffering and disasters incurred in the attempt to form 
defensive settlements in those bleak and remote channels 
is one of the most tragic that the Spanish colonies have 
to show. 

Soon after Fenton 's vessels had dropped anchor in the 
stream at a point some distance below the town, the com- 
mander was visited by Giuseppe Doria, WhithalPs 
wealthy and respected father-in-law, and some others. 
There was a good deal of doubt ashore, it appeared, con- 
cerning Fenton 's intentions. The efforts on the part of 
the seamen to dissipate this were sufficient, as is testi- 
fied to by Captain Luke Ward, of the Bonaventure: 

"After many speeches and requests a banket was made 
them, and the generall in his pinnesse with his musicke, 
and trumpets; and I in my skiffe with trumpets, drum 
and fife, and tabor and pipe, accompanied them a mile 
up the river : at going off, we saluted them with a volley 
of three great pieces out of each ship." 

In these days we may have lacked elbow room, creature 
comforts, and ventilation; but we had it within us to 



54 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

make a brave show when the time for ceremony ar- 
rived ! 

This visit was productive of friendly sentiments. On 
the next day Whithall himself came on board. For all 
the enthusiastic shrewdness of his trading instincts, he 
does not seem to have hesitated for a single moment when 
the call of loyalty clashed with his pecuniary interests. 
Whithall came now with a word of warning. The 
shadow of the Spanish Empire lay over the spot, and 
its influence had already been working. The Portuguese 
were restless and uneasy. In proof of the probability 
that their natural instincts of hospitality would give way 
to the harsh demands of Spain, they had sent away their 
women folk, and were hurriedly fortifying the town. 
Why not, he urged, sail up and anchor before the town, 
and thus take the delicate situation more directly under 
control 1 

Then Whithall took his departure over the side, and 
was doubtless paddled away in one of those dug-out 
canoes such as still survive in the river. Very shortly 
afterwards Doria came floating down the stream again, 
accompanied by a Portuguese. They brought further 
pacific messages, but advised the postponement of any 
important steps until the governor had spoken with Mas- 
ter Fenton, which he would do in a few days. 

Fenton thanked his visitors, begged them to partake 
of his hospitality, and then, while they were busied in 
dining, he mounted to the deck to discuss the situation 
with his officers. Fenton — arguing that a wealthy mer- 
chant in hand was worth a dozen governors in the bush 
— was inclined to detain his guests indefinitely in the light 
of hostages. But, as usual, he was loth to do anything 
— even the wrong thing ! — without discussion and hesi- 
tation. 

His second-in-command, Ward, deprecated anything of 
the kind. He reminded Fenton that their instructions 
forbade violence except in self-defense, and pointed out 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 55 

the irretrievable damage that such a procedure would 
cause to the budding trade which the Minion had opened 
up with Santos. This pacific counsel prevailed, and the 
outcome of it was that, instead of detention, the visitors 
received some fine black cloth, and — in order that social 
distinctions might be preserved — the same quantity for 
the governor, but this in scarlet and murrey ! 

But the days of peaceful trading had gone by. Southey 
— not quite fairly, I think, — charges the fault of their 
disappearance to Drake rather than to the grim and im- 
mutable policy of Spain. He says : 

"But the evil which Ward anticipated from hostile pro- 
ceedings had already been produced by Drake ; our nation 
was hated, and by all the Spaniards in America, English- 
men were considered as pirates." 

However this may have been, there was no uncertainty 
about the masts and yards of three Spanish ships, which 
one day pricked up plainly above the low trees of the 
alluvial valley, separated from the English vessels by 
only a few windings of the tortuous river. 

The Spanish squadron came on to the attack, and, as 
a brilliant moon was shining, a night action ensued in 
the river, in the course of which one of the Spanish ves- 
sels sank to the muddy bottom of the stream. In the 
end the squadron to which it had belonged, defeated, 
made its way with difficulty up the river. Fenton did 
not trouble himself about pursuit. He shook the water 
of the river from his sterns, and sailed homewards, 
having achieved very little beyond a certain loss of repu- 
tation. 

Decidedly the victor of this river fight, he appears to 
have behaved with the most exemplary humanity, and to 
have contented himself with vigorously repelling the as- 
sault on him. Iberian historians themselves freely admit 
that Fenton might have inflicted much more severe dam- 
age on the Spaniards, had he been so minded. Lopez 
Vaz, a Portuguese, gives the following account: 



56 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

**The Englishmen easily put them to the worst, and 
sunke one of them, and might have sunke another, if the 
Englishmen would : but they minded not the destruction 
of any man: for that is the greatest vertue that can be 
in a man, that when hee may doe hurt, yet he will not doe 
it. So the Englishmen .... went backe for England, 
without doing of any harme in the countrey.'* 

Such generous praise from an opponent would read still 
more pleasantly were Fenton's motives perfectly clear. 
But the reason of many of this leader's actions is 
shrouded in mystery. Undoubtedly his procedure was 
often half-hearted, and in more than one quarter he was 
suspected of carrying on negotiations with the Spanish 
ambassador in London. 

This action, although insignificant in itself, was a mo- 
mentous one, since it signaled the termination of the 
English peaceful relations with Brazil. The whole of 
South America was now under Spanish domination, and 
throughout the entire length of its coasts the English 
might know well enough that not a port existed that 
would not throw a round shot or two — even were the 
cannon old and rusted — at any vessel flying the St. 
George's Cross which should chance to come within 
range. 

The free intercourse between the English and the Port- 
uguese was not destined to be renewed until some two 
centuries and a quarter later, when a British fleet es- 
corted a Portuguese regent and his court to their new 
capital of Rio de Janeiro. For when in 1640 the Portu- 
guese flung off the Spanish yoke, the Government of 
Brazil continued to be tainted with methods which, 
though less harsh, savored of the Spanish model, and the 
advent of the foreigner was hindered as much as possible. 

One tragic episode, however, has yet to be related con- 
cerning Fenton's expedition. Young John Drake, mind- 
ful no doubt of his great kinsman's deeds, had no mind 
to abandon the voyage to the South Seas. So he sepa- 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 57 

rated his forty-ton cockleshell from Fenton's squadron, 
and sailed it gallantly on to the south, he and his crew 
of seventeen men and a boy ! Alas ! off the River Plate 
the Francis struck a rock, and was wrecked, and after 
conflicts with the Indians and captivity, John Drake and 
two companions found themselves at Buenos Aires. 

They were kindly received, and would probably have 
been sent back to their own country, had not a former 
prisoner of Francis Drake's appeared on the scene and 
recognized the admiral's young cousin. 

John Drake was taken to Lima, after a long stay at 
Asuncion on the way. He appears eventually to have 
adopted the Roman Catholic faith and to have married ; 
but he was never permitted to leave the neighborhood 
of Lima. 

It is supposed that John Drake and his two companions 
were the sole survivors of the unfortunate Francis; but 
it is possible that there remained some who did not suc- 
ceed in escaping from the hands of the Indians. Hakluyt, 
for one, was led to believe this, for he remarks : 

''Upon this comming of the Englishmen, there were 
prepared 50 horsemen to goe over the river to seeke the 
rest of the Englishmen, and also certaine Spaniards that 
were among the savage people, but I am not certaine, 
whether they went forward or not." 

Zelia Nuttall in her very valuable work for the Hakluyt 
Society, ''New Light on Drake," has an interesting note 
in connection with John Drake: 

"In the official description of the auto-da-fe held in 
December, 1650, in the Church of Santo Domingo at 
Cartagena, the capital of the Spanish Main, the name of 
John Drake is given as that of one of the penitents. He 
had been denounced to the Dominican fathers because 
'being a Lutheran, he frequented the Holy Sacraments.' 
After performing public penance in the auto-da-fe, he was 
'absolved with a caution' and admitted to reconciliation 
with the Church of Rome. In 1650 John Drake, the 



58 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

cousin of Francis Drake, would have been an octogenar- 
ian, a fact which might explain the otherwise unaccount- 
able leniency of the sentence imposed for so grave a 
sacrilege .... Whatever the truth may be, it is a fact 
which cannot but awaken deep interest, that sixty-five 
years after Drake's cousin figured in an auto-da-fe at 
Lima, a Lutheran namesake of his was living on the 
Spanish Main, the scene of many an English raid, whither 
ships sailed regularly from Lima, transporting the gold 
and silver destined for Spain. There, if anywhere in 
America, at that time, there was a remote chance of liber- 
ation or escape and this may account for the fact that in 
1652 'an English tailor, named Anthony' also lived at 
Cartagena." 

After Fenton's return an expedition set out for the 
South Seas by way of the Brazils, no longer bearing an 
olive branch at the main. The squadron, financed by the 
Earl of Cumberland, was commanded by Robert With- 
rington, and was accompanied by two privateers, one of 
which had been fitted out by Raleigh. 

Setting out in 1586, when well to the south of the 
line, Withrington stood in toward the shore, and where 
the blue of the Southern Pacific was becoming tinged 
with the thick yellow flood of the River Plate he captured 
two small Portuguese vessels. 

Curiously enough, the first of these ships was com- 
manded by a certain Abraham Cocke, who had originally 
been one of the members of the Minion's crew. This 
tends to show that the last spark of international genial- 
ity had not yet been stamped out by the Spaniards, and, 
morever, reveals the remarkable manner in which the 
threads of each of these English expeditions happened 
to be picked up by the next. 

In the second of the captured vessels were three or 
four friars, an Irishman among them, and, if only the 
date corresponded more closely, one would have made 
certain that this could have been no other than the Jesuit 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 59 

Father Fields, whose adventures when captured by 
English '■ ' pirates ' ' are described in a later chapter. 

Cocke assured his compatriots that, if they would turn 
their bows northwards, they could raid Bahia with suc- 
cess. Withrington took his advice, but obtained no booty 
to speak of at that tropical port, in spite of much fierce 
fighting the town itself being strenuously guarded by 
great numbers of the Jesuit Mission Indians, who had 
been hastily summoned for that purpose. 

It is worthy of remark that on this voyage a landing 
party at Seal Island (probably Lobos Island) found there 
the arms of Portugal engraved on a rock. These, it was 
imagined, had been placed there by the order of Martin 
Alonso de Souza. 

This last voyage makes no mention of John Whithall, 
and it is possible that the intercourse between him and 
his fellow countrymen was broken off after it. If he 
remained there, no doubt his descendants inhabit the 
neighborhood at the present day, and if any people of 
the name of Leitoan or Leitoa exist there now, they 
may congratulate themselves on a distinctly interesting 
ancestry ! 

It is not a little curious to find that in the actual heyday 
of the raids of the great English navigators there were 
other sailors who were occupied in commonplace trading 
with the colonists. Yet this is clear enough from the 
instructions given by Master Edward Cotton of South- 
ampton to the commander of a ship of his freighted in 
1590 for Brazil and the River Plate. 

Needless to say, the traffic had to be carried on very 
quietly, and the palms of the Spanish officials well 
smoothed with gold. Among the commodities required 
for the return trip were ''amber, sugar, green ginger, 
cotton-wool, and some quantity of the peppers of the 
country there. Also for parats and monkies, and the 
beast called serrabosa." 

The crew, morever, were to drag for oysters, and the 



60 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

master was to keep a sharp lookout for the seeds and 
kernels of strange plants, **also to doe your best en- 
deavour to try for the best ore or golde, silver, or other 
rich mettals whatsoever. ' ' 

Unfortunately for the high hopes of Edward Cotton, 
his vessel was cast away on the shore of Guinea, only 
one man out of the ship's company returning to tell the 
tale. 

In 1589, the Bristol ship Delight set out from Plymouth 
on a voyage to the Magellan Straits and the Southern 
Chilean Province of Arauco, which caused her name to 
appear most grimly ironical. For the first part of the 
journey she was accompanied by two other vessels, the 
Wild Man and the White Lion, as well as by two small 
pinnaces. But in the neighborhood of Cape Blanco on 
the Barbary coast she lost sight of her consorts, and did 
not get into touch with them again. 

The Delight stood on for the South American coast, 
and eventually reached the Magellan Straits in safety, 
although by the time she had made the mountainous and 
wooded inlets, disease had carried off sixteen persons out 
of their complement of ninety one. 

The voyage of the Delight deserves to be better known. 
It provides unsurpassable material for an epic of mis- 
fortune. Having waited in the vain hope of being joined 
by the remaining vessels of the expedition, she proceeded 
to Penguin Island and her crew captured and salted a 
number of penguins, ** which must be eaten with speed, 
for wee found them to be of no long continuance." In 
the course of this work of provisioning a serious accident 
occurred; for their boat was blown away in a sudden 
gale, and was never seen again. This catastrophe cost 
them the lives of fifteen men, and left them without a 
boat. However, a substitute was improvised out of the 
wood of the men's chests, and the Delight made her way 
along the Straits as far as Port Famine. Here, near 
the ruins of the Spanish settlement which it had been 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 61 

attempted to found in 1582, they met with, and succored, 
a solitary Spaniard, the only one remaining at the spot 
out of the original four hundred, who was leading a her- 
mit and precarious existence. 

About this time, attracted by the signals of some In- 
dians on shore, the Delight's new boat was sent to the 
beach. No sooner had the men landed than they were 
set on by the treacherous natives, and out of a crew of 
nine only two returned alive to their ship. To cut short 
a long story of disaster, a six weeks' sojourn in these 
fatal straits cost the lives of thirty-eight men, whether 
from casualties or disease. 

Nothing remained but for the Delight to attempt to 
make her way home as best she could. No grain of good 
fortune relieved the gloom of the return voyage. Once, 
an eighty-ton Portuguese vessel was sighted, from which, 
it was hoped, some food might be obtained. But the 
Portuguese master ran his ship ashore, and there, for 
want of a proper boat, the Delight had to leave her ! 

Infested by disease, the stricken vessel staggered on 
to the north, and when foul weather at length drove her 
mournful ribs on to the rocks of Normandy only six of 
her crew remained alive ! 

When we come to Cavendish we arrive at one of the 
few of the most prominent early navigators who was not 
a Devonian. Thomas Cavendish was a fairly wild Suf- 
folk lad, of good family and easy circumstances. Or- 
phaned when a minor, he took the first opportunity of 
squandering his patrimony with that impetuousity which 
characterized his actions throughout his life. 

In 1585 a voyage with Sir Richard Greenville to Vir- 
ginia gave him his taste for the sea. On his return he 
employed the remains of his fortune to equip a small 
fleet of three vessels. This he took to Sierra Leone in 
1586, whence he sailed to South America. When off the 
coast of Brazil he endeavored to get into communication 
with John Whithall of Santos, but failed. After this. 



62 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

he proceeded to the south, and passed through the Magel- 
lan Straits. Here they saw the ruins of the settlement 
which the Spaniards had endeavored to establish there: 
''the citie had foure Fortes, and every Fort had in it 
one cast piece, which pieces were buryed in the ground, 
the carriages were standing in their places unburied: 
we digged for them and had them all. ' ' The inhabitants, 
attacked by starvation and Indians, had "dyed like 
dogges in their houses, and in their clothes, wherein we 
found them still at our coming, untill that in the ende 
the towne being wonderfully taynted with the smell and 
the savour of the dead people, the rest which remained 
alive were driven .... to forsake the towne." 

Such was a portion of the tragedy of Port Famine. 
After this Cavendish sailed up the Pacific coast, then, 
drawing away to the westward, he sailed home in the 
track of Drake, being the second Englishman to circum- 
navigate the world. 

England and Spain being at this period openly at war, 
Cavendish had at least the advantage of carryiiig on his 
vastly extensive plundering with a completely easy mind. 
His spoil was immense, one captured vessel alone being 
found to be laden with the equivalent of £49,000 in gold. 
But, for all that he was a bold and daring mariner, in 
some respects Cavendish fell far from the standard set 
by Drake. Drake, it is true, had once ducked an obsti- 
nate prisoner, a sufficiently mild chastisement, but Caven- 
dish did not hesitate at actual torture, relying on the 
thumbscrew to break the silence of more than one Span- 
ish captive. His bravery was of the kind which his fel- 
low leaders of the age rightly claimed for the English; 
but his methods were such as — with far less reason — 
have been held, in the British mind, for centuries as the 
special characteristics of the Spaniard ! 

Surely something of his spirit struts out in these words 
of his, trumpeting his first voyage : 

"In which voyage I have either discovered or brought 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 63 

certaine intelligence of all the ricli places of the world 
that were ever knowen or discovered by any Christian. 
I navigated alongst the coast of Chili, Pern, and Nueva 
Espana, where I made great spoiles : I burnt and sunke 
nineteen sailes of ships small and great. All the villages 
and townes that ever I landed at I burnt and spoiled." 

Cavendish seems to have been determined that his re- 
turn from so successful a voyage should lose nothing 
in the way of crude splendor. So, when his bows at 
length clove their way into English waters, they were, 
it is said, gilt and shining; his sails were of variously 
colored damask, and his topmasts were covered with 
cloth-of-gold. As a finishing touch — ^probably not with- 
out its own humor — ^his grim sea-dogs are said to have 
lounged against this gorgeous back-ground, themselves 
resplendent in the bravest of silks. 

Cavendish's second voyage is chiefly remarkable for 
the unusual amount of attention paid to the coast of 
Brazil. In 1591 two of his ships surprised the town of 
Santos, and captured practically the entire population 
who happened to be at mass. This in itself was some- 
thing of a haul, since wealthy settlers were often worth 
their weight in silver for a ransom. But Cocke, Caven- 
dish's second in command, who had charge of the affair, 
found the good cheer of Santos too much for his 
astuteness. While he feasted and drank, the inhabitants 
packed up their valuables very stealthily, and, laden with 
these, slipped away into the forest, making their way 
toward the highlands of the interior. 

So that when, rather more than a week later. Cavendish 
arrived at Santos, he found Cocke — ^who doubtless re- 
ceived him sheepishly — safely in possession of Santos — 
but Santos without its inhabitants, valuables, or pro- 
visions. In their anger, the sailors took a clay image 
of St. Catherine from a small chapel, and flung it into 
the river. Later, it was recovered by a dragnet — either 
by accident or design — and was found to be completely 



64 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

covered with those little oyster-shells such as are to be 
seen on the sea-walls of Santos to-day. These were suf- 
fered to remain, and by its immersion the image became 
vested with a double sanctity. After this the disgusted 
crews burned the neighboring village of Sao Vicente, 
and made oif to the south to navigate the Magellan 
Straits. But the good fortune which had attended Cav- 
endish on his first voyage failed him now. His fleet 
was driven and scattered by the overwhelming storms of 
the bleak southern latitudes. Doubtless soured by these 
misfortunes, Cavendish appears to have fallen foul of 
his officers and crew, who, however, remained loyal to 
him. 

Once more Cavendish's storm-battered ship, alone on 
the waters now, sailed with a sick and starving crew to 
the mouth of the Santos River. But misfortune clung 
like a hungry shark to the weather-beaten quarter of 
Cavendish's vessel. Of twenty-five men, landed at a dis- 
tance of some three leagues from Santos in order to 
obtain provisions, not a soul returned to the vessel. They 
were attacked by a band of Indians who on the previous 
occasion had shown themselves friendly, and all but two 
were slain. The unfortunate survivors were escorted 
into Santos by the Indians, who triumphantly waved in 
the air the twenty- three severed heads of the prisoners' 
slain comrades. 

Cavendish left the place, and, cruising along the coast, 
was soon joined by the Roebuck, one of the vessels of his 
squadron which had lived through the southern storms. 
They sailed northwards in company, raiding where they 
could, until they came to Espiritu Santo. 

Here they determined on a more important landing 
expedition. The bar, however, of the small river which 
ran by the place presented some problems. Moved by a 
fatal inspiration, one of Cavendish's Portuguese prison- 
ers volunteered to pilot the vessels in. Cavendish, 
doubting the possibility of this, sent a boat's crew to 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 65 

sound. They pulled back, to report an insufficient depth 
of water to permit the passage of the bar. 

The unfortunate Portuguese protested that, whatever 
soundings they made it, he had safely taken in vessels 
of a hundred tons. But his protestations fell on deaf 
ears. Cavendish hanged him forthwith, having first cyni- 
cally explained to the poor wretch that he deserved hang- 
ing in either case — ^whether for piloting his country's 
enemies, or for attempting to wreck an English vessel ! 

But this was one of the last outbursts of Cavendish's 
peculiarly grim species of humor. A boat-expedition, 
sent up the river, was, notwithstanding much individual 
gallantry, forced to return after having suffered very 
heavy loss. Much of the fault of this Cavendish at- 
tributed to the master of the Roebuck, whom he dubbed 
a most cowardly villain. Then he set sail for England, 
realizing that the expedition had failed in all things, a 
circumstance which undoubtedly contributed to his end 
a little later. For, like his greater fellow navigators, 
Drake and Hawkins, Cavendish died in the tropics with 
the oak timbers of his vessel beneath him. 

In connection with this expedition occurred a voyage 
which, from the point of view of tragedy, may well com- 
pare with that of the Delight. After Cavendish's fleet 
had left the Straits of Magellan, and was beating its way 
up through the stormy latitudes toward Brazil, the Desire 
lost company with the other vessels. After a time her 
captain, John Davis, decided to return to the Straits 
of Magellan. The Desire even attained the length of 
entering the Pacific, but was beaten back by weather to 
the grim shelter of the land waters. 

In the course of a desperate and precarious existence 
here, a portion of the crew became suspicious of the 
captain's motives, and planned to murder him — a silver 
bullet had already been prepared that would leave no 
doubt about his end ! But that fine sailor. Captain Davis, 
learning of this in time, convinced the malcontents of his 



66 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

sincerity, and read them some well-earned lectures on 
their conduct in addition. 

This episode affords merely one more proof that if 
ever there was a spot designed to bring to a head an 
incipient mutinous spirit, it was these very Magellan 
Straits. The more one reads of their history, the clearer 
it becomes that they were the earthly hell of sixteenth, 
seventeenth, and eighteenth century mariners! 

In the first instance the unfortunate men of the Desire 
had been obliged to subsist largely on mussels ; but after- 
wards their diet improved : 

''All the time that wee were in this place, we fared 
passing well with egs, Penguins, young scales, young 
Guiles, besides other birds .... we found an herbe 
called Scurvygrasse, which we fried with egs, using traine 
oyle in stead of butter. This herbe did so purge 
ye blood, that it tooke away all kind of swellings, of 
which many died, and restored us to perfect health of 
body.*' 

With this more favorable outlook, died away the in- 
cipient growlings of a mutiny to which the sufferings of 
the men had inclined to drive them. 

In these circumstances it was decided to return, and to 
make for Brazil. It was with a woefully diminished 
crew that the weatherbeaten Desire drove her nose dog- 
gedly into the waters of the Atlantic again. In her hold 
were fourteen thousand dried penguins, the fruit of in- 
finite toil and labor in the bleak straits. 

Thus provisioned, the ship 's company of the Desire may 
well have thought that they had left most of their troubles 
behind them, however shaken might be the hull of their 
vessel and however rotten its sails. But when they 
passed from the chilly southern latitudes to the brilliant 
glow of the subtropics the taste of penguin, eked out by 
nothing beyond a few precious spoonfuls of oil, meal, 
and pease, became more and more difficult to bear, more 
especially now that the allowance of water was short. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 67 

When off the Brazilian Island of Placentia, matters 
had become desperate. The Desire was brought to an 
anchor, while a party was sent ashore to collect cassava 
roots, near an apparently deserted settlement. This 
work they performed for several days, when, on the night 
of the fifth of February, ^'rnany of our men in the ship 
dreamed of murther and slaughter : in the morning they 
reported their dreams, one saying to another ; this night 
I dreamt, that thou wert slaine; another answered, and 
I dreamed, that thou wert slaine: and this was general 
through the ship." 

Treating this phenomenon with some respect, the cap- 
tain commanded those who were about to proceed on 
shore to arm themselves well, and to keep a sharp watch. 
Nevertheless, the tropical languor of the after-dinner 
hour on shore proved too much for the caution of the 
men, and they were sleeping in the shade of the palms 
and the brilliant flowers, when they were surprised by a 
force of Portuguese and Indians, and of fifteen men all 
but two were slain. The Desire's boat was pulled in hot 
haste to the spot, but, save for the two survivors, they 
found their comrades already dead, and ''laide naked on a 
ranke one by another, with their faces upward, and a 
crosse set by them." 

The Englishmen had not leisure to do any more than 
take in this melancholy sight; for two large pinnaces, 
crowded with armed men, were approaching, and it was 
high time for the mauled and maltreated Desire to leave 
this unhealthy neighborhood. 

When her tattered and soiled sails were spread to the 
joyously mocking and brilliant airs only twenty-seven 
gaunt men remained to work the vessel. As they drew 
near the Equator some welcome showers renewed the 
water in their cask. But this was nothing but an ironical 
caress of the merciless fortune which obsessed the poor 
vessel. The equatorial sun and the malignant spirits of 
the slain penguins entered into a gruesome treaty to deal 



68 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the most dreadful blow of all. What happened is best 
told in the homely words of the sufferers themselves. 

'* After we came neere unto the sun, our dried 
Penguins began to corrupt, and there bred in them a most 
lothsome and ugly worme of an inch long. This worme 
did so mightily increase, and devoure our victuals, that 
there was in reason no hope how we should avoide famine, 
but be devoured of these wicked creatures: there was 
nothing that they did not devour, only yron excepted: 
our clothes, boots, shooes, hats, shirts, stockings: and 
for the ship they did so eat the timbers, as that we 
greatly feared they would undoe us, by gnawing through 
the ship's side .... the more we laboured to kill them, 
the more they increased ; so that at the last we could not 
sleepe for them, but they would eate our flesh, and bite 
like Mosquotos." 

Presently these unfortunate beings fell into a disease 
which, beginning in the ankles, caused their whole bodies 
to swell in a monstrous fashion. Undoubtedly it was a 
nightmare of a voyage, this! No wonder that ''divers 
grew raging mad, and some died in most lothsome and 
furious paine." Through it all the captain's spirit seems 
to have remained undaunted, and of the five who, at the 
end of the voyage, were able to move about the deck, he 
and a boy were the only two who remained in health. 
Beyond these were eleven prostrate invalids, all that re- 
mained out of the original ship 's company of seventy-six 
men. 

Even when within sight of home the survivors were 
destined to experience more sordidness — this time in 
human nature: 

"Thus as lost wanderers upon the sea, the 11 of June 
1593, it pleased God that we arrived at Bear-haven in 
Ireland, and there ran the ship on shore : where the Irish 
men helped us to take in our sails, and to more our ship 
for floating : which slender paines of theirs cost the cap- 
taine some ten pounds before he could have the ship in 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 69 

safetie. Thus without victuals, sails, men, or any furni- 
ture God only guided us into Ireland. ' ' 

A few days later this staunch captain and some of his 
men landed at Padstow in Cornwall, ''and in this manner 
our small remnant by God's only Mercie were preserved, 
and restored to our country, to whom be all honour 
and glory world without end." A ringing sentence, 
which calls for an amen from across the centuries ! 

In James Lancaster, described as a gentleman of Lon- 
don, we have a type of man entirely different to that 
of his navigating predecessors. For one thing, Lan- 
caster's education had been cosmopolitan by compari- 
son. ''He had by his own account been brought up 
among the Portuguese, lived among them as a gentle- 
man, served with them as a soldier, and dwelt among 
them as a merchant," says Southey and, adds, as one 
whose residence in Portugal had imbued him with 
friendly feelings toward that kindly folk: "There was 
therefore what may be called moral treason in bearing 
arms against a people with whom he had so long been 
domesticated. ' * 

Although it is impossible to judge of the rights and 
wrongs of these circumstances at this length of time, it 
seems possible enough that Southey 's complaint was not 
without some foundation. Undoubtedly Lancaster was 
a many-sided man. His education had been unusually 
liberal for that period. In addition to his notable quali- 
ties as a navigator and a resolute leader of men, he was 
worldy wise, an able linguist, a shrewd business man, 
and, morever, endowed with a remarkable mental agil- 
ity. 

It has always seemed to me — although it is sufficiently 
probable that some quite simple circumstances of which 
I am ignorant may account for his name and his pres- 
ence in the Peninsula — that, in view of the close con- 
nection of the Lancastrian dynasty with Portugal, the 
origin of this Lancaster might prove interesting, On 



70 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the other hand, mere coincidence of nomenclature — 
although in this instance very long-armed, considering 
the few English in Portugal — may well deprive his an- 
cestry of any mystic glamour. 

Lancaster may be said to have specialized in attacks 
on Brazil! The motive of this, naturally, was his long 
acquaintance with the Portuguese people and language, 
two circumstances which stood him in good stead. 

Lancaster set out on his principal voyage in 1594 with 
three ships — of which the largest was some two hundred 
and forty tons and the smallest sixty — victualed by alder- 
men and citizens of London. His fleet was manned by 
two hundred and seventy-five men and boys. His des- 
tination was Recife, the sister port of Olinda, both of 
which are now popularly known as Pernambuco. An 
eloquent testimony to Lancaster's foresight, thorough 
methods, and cosmopolitan relations was his procuring 
from Dieppe before he started two Frenchmen conversant 
w^ith the language of the Indians in the neighborhood of 
Recife ! 

On the southward voyage Lancaster had an opportu- 
nity of displaying his resolution; for trouble with the 
mast of one of his ships caused a separation of his squad- 
ron, to the discouragement of many of the men, who de- 
sired to abandon the enterprise. But Lancaster kept a 
firm hand over his crew, and was rewarded by the coming 
together again of his three vessels off the sandy north- 
west African coast in the neighborhood of Cape Blanco. 

Master Barker, Lancaster's second in command, had 
already busied himself among the Spanish and Portu- 
guese shipping, and from a prisoner from one of the many 
captured vessels he had learned that a richly laden car- 
rack from India had been wrecked off the northern Bra- 
zilian coast, and that all her cargo had been taken to 
Recife. 

This, fitting in so admirably with the objects of the 
expedition, must have seemed the work of a special prov- 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 71 

idence. Greatly encouraged by the news, the squadron, 
accompanied now by five of the prizes, set sail for the 
southwest. Presently it fell in with a squadron of four 
privateers commanded by Captain Venner. An agree- 
ment was arrived at with these, and Lancaster found his 
fleet strengthened by two ships, a pinnace, and a 
Biscayan prize. As to the division of the spoils to come, 
Lancaster was to have three shares and Venner the 
fourth — a proportion that may have been just enough, 
but that it was in any case eloquent of the comparative 
intellectual force of the pair. 

After this the combined squadrons made for Recife, 
and arrived off that port in the darkness of night. When 
the sun rose out of the warm ocean it showed the mari- 
ners all that they had expected to see — the low forest- 
covered hills, the green stretches of the sugar-cane 
fields, the groves of cocoanut palms, the lowly houses 
of the town, and the sheltering coral-reef that extended 
itself in front. 

But there was more than this. Just where the end 
of the coral reef made the limit of the natural harbor 
three large Dutch ships lay at anchor. The sight was 
as unwelcome as it was unexpected, since there was noth- 
ing to show what attitude the Dutch would adopt. Lan- 
caster therefore made all preparations to assail the town 
and the Dutch as well. His answer to a somewhat super- 
fluous question sent out by the governor as to what the 
English fleet desired, was perfectly direct. Lancaster 
explained in so many words that it was for the goods 
of the carrack he had come, and the goods of the carrack 
he must have. 

Then he sent his boats' crew ashore to the attack. 
To his infinite relief he found that the Dutch vessels had 
warped themselves out of the way, thus displaying peace- 
able intentions. The assault on the fort itself was merely 
one out of a thousand such instances. It was captured 
with a rush, and the twin towns with their booty and the 



72 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

rich cargo of the carrack fell into the hands of Lan- 
caster. 

* ' The day of our arrival, ' ' says the narrator of this in 
a cynical note, ''was their Good Friday, when by custom 
they usually whipp themselves; but God sent us now 
for a general scourge to them all, whereby that labour 
among them might be well spared." 

It was only when this victory was won that the English 
leader showed the full scope of his enterprising spirit. 
Here was more rich plunder than could be carried in his 
own ships ; and there were the three great Dutch vessels 
— early heralds of the future Dutch invasion of Northern 
Brazil — ^whose crews could not well help chafing with 
envy at the scene that was being enacted before their 
eyes! Lancaster dropped his raider's part, and became 
a tactful merchant. He chartered the Dutch ships on 
liberal terms, with the result that the men in these were 
soon working with enthusiasm at the loading of the ves- 
sels — which, of course, was all to the benefit of Lancas- 
ter and his expedition. 

But even now these international episodes were not 
yet at an end. Two or three days afterwards three ships 
and two pinnaces rose their sails over the edge of the 
blue ocean. They were French privateers, the captain 
of one of which, Jean Noyer, had rendered Lancaster a 
service in the West Indies the previous year. Thus 
cordiality was established from the start, and as a result 
of Lancaster's generous terms the French soon found 
themselves allied to the expedition just as the Dutch 
were. 

Of the four nations thus flung into contact, the Portu- 
guese alone nourished a cause for grievance! First of 
all they endeavored to treat with Lancaster. But Lan- 
caster, when he heard that the envoys were coming, 
''hung downe his head for a small season; and when he 
had muzed awhile, he answered, ' I must go aboard of the 
Flemings upon business that importeth me'." Then he 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 73 

fied from his ship as though the evil one himself were 
after him. He had himself rowed across to one of the 
Dutch ships, and there he sought complete seclusion. 
He refused to exchange a single word with the Portu- 
guese, vowing that he knew them too well to run any such 
risk ! 

''When they cannot prevail with the sword," said he, 
*'then they deal with their deceivable tongues, for faith 
and truth they have none." 

He must have been honest in his convictions, for he 
swore that he would hang the first Portuguese who at- 
tempted a parley — a wholesome precaution, which instils 
a doubt as to whether his former relations with the Port- 
uguese had been quite so cordial as Southey imagined! 

When the wings of the doves of peace definitely failed 
them the Portuguese sent off fireships instead; but the 
careful watch and skilful work of the sailors rendered 
them harmless, and attempts to cut the ship' cables were 
foiled by the efficient crews. Moreover, when they at- 
tempted to erect some entrenchments near the town these 
were captured by the privateers, and some carts were 
taken which proved of the greatest assistance in loading 
the ships with the spoils of the port! 

The next attempt on the part of the Portuguese was 
to construct a battery on the seashore with the object of 
raking the hostile fleet with their shot. A landing party 
destroyed the work, although in the course of too reck- 
less a pursuit of the townsmen Captain Barker, Captain 
Cotton, two of the French captains, and thirty-five men 
were slain. After this the fleet, having occupied the port 
for thirty-one days, decided that it would make for home. 

"That evening," says the chronicler, ''they weighed 
anchor and sailed out, eleven ships in company, all richly 
laden, and all reached their ports safely." 

Save for the final contretemps, the expedition had pro- 
ceeded without a hitch. And as for this last, there were 
doubtless some among the mariners sufficiently callous 



74 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

to console themselves with the reflection that it happened 
during the last day's stay in South America, and with 
calculations that set off the advantages of a division of 
booty among fewer hands against the loss of human lives. 

It was, indeed, as was jubilantly remarked, '*a well- 
governed and prosperous voyage. ' ' Its conclusion, more- 
over, set the seal on Lancaster 's shrewdness and capacity 
for leaving well enough alone — qualities quite as un- 
usual in a sixteenth- or seventeenth-century privateer as 
in a modern actor. For it was the last he undertook. 

"When in 1595 Sir Walter Ealeigh sailed his five ships 
up the stream of the Orinoco, he was already a personage 
of distinction, a great navigator, a tried statesman, a 
poet, and a close friend of Spenser — no small honor in 
itself — a writer of stirring prose, a brilliant courtier, and 
the petted favorite of his queen. 

But of all these things it was as a poet that Ealeigh 
went sailing up the Orinoco. He was no longer young, 
it is true ; it was forty -three years since he had been born 
in the Devon manor house near Budleigh. In his own 
words, it was in the winter of his life, and with a body 
blasted with misfortune that he undertook these travels. 
Yet, he says, ''I would not doubt but for one yeere more 
to hold fast my soule in my teeth, till it were performed.*' 

He had navigated, fought on the sea, discovered, and 
colonized — all this as a practical man and as an able sea- 
man. Now, for the moment, he had thrown that frame 
of mind aside. He had been listening to rumors and tales 
of fantastic things — that might yet be true ! 

The tales had caught themselves up in his poet's mind, 
and had set it aflame. He had heard the elusive and 
shadowy accounts of the Kingdom of El Dorado, the 
Gilded One, and the romance of his spirit had built 
dreams on these misty foundations, until he could possess 
himself no longer, but had to yield to the call of the placid 
Orinoco. 

So far as El Dorado was concerned, Raleigh's evil gen- 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 75 

ius was Don Antonio de Berreo, the Spanish governor 
of Guiana whom he had captured, principally in order 
to teach him that it was not profitable to invite English 
seamen ashore to hunt, and then to capture them in the 
face of his pledge, as he had in the previous year! 
Manoa was Berreo 's particular hobby. His love for gold 
and diamonds seems to have been as great as his callous- 
ness toward the Indians, among whom he was unpopular, 
as any person would be who — as was his occasional habit 
— dropped burning bacon upon naked aboriginal flesh ! 

It was through this Manoa that Berreo had his revenge, 
whether it was intended or not. Raleigh's pages are 
eloquent on the point. Very soon it was '^Berreo told 
me this," ''Berreo told me that," — and all the tales were 
of gold, in dust, and lumps, and plates; and of great 
diamonds that shone under waterfalls and elsewhere! 
So Raleigh saw visions while Berreo talked — Berreo who 
was now "very valiant and liberall, and a gentleman of 
great assuredness, and of a great heart." Perhaps, on 
nearer acquaintance, Berreo possessed all this — ^but I 
much misdoubt that he had the brain of a fox, too. 

Raleigh was sailing now to put these stories and these 
dreams to the test. The sight of the Orinoco itself was 
not of the kind which would dispel any illusion. The 
dense and mysterious forests whose green waves rolled 
down to the edge of the stream, the occasional sweeping 
aside of the verdure to admit the tributary streams with 
their splashing waterfalls — ^this in itself made a suffi- 
ciently romantic setting for the poet's mind. But when 
the gorgeous scarlet, blue, and yellow of the macaws 
flashed across the green, and the almost equally brilliant 
toucans bore their gigantic beaks from point to point, 
while the metallic fire of the humming-birds shone out 
among the feathers of other winged creatures of every 
conceivable hue; when, again, the brilliance of vast but- 
terflies floated above the log-like forms of the dozing 
alligators, and the distant campanero bird, unseen in its 



76 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

snowy whiteness, tolled out its notes that so perfectly 
resembled a convent bell, and, finally, when at night the 
great demoniacal wings of the vampire bats flitted by, 
and the fireflies lit up water and leaf — here were scenes 
and sounds such as made the vision of El Dorado draw 
nearer and take new life! 

The curious fascination of the country is admitted by 
Ealeigh himself in his description of an excursion toward 
some great waterfalls : 

''For mine owne part I was well perswaded from 
thence to have returned, being a very ill footeman, but 
the rest were all so desirous to goe neere the saide strange 
thunder of waters, as they drew me on by little and little, 
ill wee came into the next valley where we might better 
discerne the same. I never saw a more beautifull coun- 
trey, nor more lively prospects, hills so raised here and 
there over the valleys, the river winding into divers 
branches, the playnes adjoyning without bush or stubble, 
all faire greene grasse, the ground of hard sand easie to 
march on, either for horse or foote, the deere crossing in 
every path, the birdes towards the evening singing on 
every tree with a thousand severall tunes, cranes and 
herons of white, crimson, and carnation pearching in the 
rivers side, the aire fresh with a gentle Easterly winde, 
and every stone that we stouped to takeup, promised 
either golde or silver by his complexion. ' ' 

It is true that the tale of El Dorado was fantastic 
enough, even for a poet floating on such shining and 
magic water as these. As he went on, Ealeigh picked 
up more and more fragments from both Indians and 
white adventurers. The white stone palace on an island 
in a lake, the guardian lions chained by massive fetters 
of gold, the great golden sun upon the silver altar, the 
Dorado, or Gilded Monarch himself, whose body was first 
anointed and then blown upon with gold dust every morn- 
ing until he was clothed from head to foot in the glitering 
metal of which he held such great store — to what ex- 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 77 

tent Raleigh in his own heart was credulous remains un- 
solved to this day. Certainly a man of his mental ca- 
pacity can scarcely have swallowed the childish fairy 
tale of the sands of gold and pebbles of diamonds which 
fringed the lake. He may have considered that, on the 
principle that there is no smoke without fire, in Manoa 
there was no fable without a solid foundation of gold 
somewhere or other. That he used a story, of which he 
himself was entirely incredulous, as a lever toward the 
colonization of the Guianas is a fairly popular theory. 
But surely it is more probable and natural that Raleigh 
really did credit the existence — although not necessarily 
in the least as described in the legend — of great stores of 
gold in Guiana. Is it necessary to go afield to search 
for a more powerful magnet than this? Raleigh's fervid 
imagination was a double-edged possession — first a bril- 
liant servant, afterwards a mortal enemy ! 

Raleigh sailed home, his head still filled with the 
glamour of these enchanted rivers, and we may now take 
a hasty survey of one or two notable captains who as- 
sisted in the exploration of Guiana, and the northeast 
of the continent. One of the most prominent of these 
was Captain Amyas Preston, who set out for those lati- 
tudes in 1595, accompanied by Captain George Summers. 
The year after (1596) Captain Keymis set out and thor- 
oughly explored the coast of Guiana, Captain Berrie con- 
tinuing these explorations in 1597. In this year, too, 
Captain Leigh explored the Guiana rivers in a bark, the 
John, of London. An attempt to found a definite settle- 
ment was made by Captain Leigh in 1607; but sickness 
and the wreck of a relief ship caused the survivors of the 
original company of forty-six to abandon the attempt. 
In 1609, however, Robert Harcourt essayed the venture 
on a more ambitious scale, and in 1613 he obtained from 
King James I a patent for all the country between the 
rivers Amazon and Essequibo. 

All this time Raleigh had been suffering from those 



78 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

overwhelming blows of injustice and ill-fortune which 
are too familiar to even the least historically curious to 
be dilated on here. Stripped of his honors and offices, 
he had been flung into the Tower of London by a king 
with an untrue heart, a watery spine, and a windy head. 

Ealeigh had been released in a half-hearted fashion. 
It was greed alone that opened his prison doors, for he 
was set free only in order that he might make solid the 
gold of his Eldorado and bring it home to doubting, but 
half-hopeful, James. 

So, here he was, sailing down toward the blue South- 
ern waters again, graciously permitted by his king to 
attempt to add to the latter 's wealth. It must have been 
with mixed feelings that Ealeigh undertook the venture. 
Years before, when taunted with a want of good faith 
in his enterprise, he had said: 

"For mine owne part, I am not so much in love with 
these long voyages, as to devise, therby to cozen my 
selfe, to line hard, to fare worse, to be subjected to perils, 
to diseases, to ill savors, to be parched and withered, 
and withall to sustaine the care and labour of such an 
enterprize, except the same had more comfort, than the 
fetching of Marcasite in Guiana, or buying of gold oare 
in Barbary." 

This is a mere plain picture of the marine hardships 
of those days. But to the troubles of this last voyage 
were added those of a despairing and embittered spirit. 

The story of no fleet is sadder than that of the poorly 
manned squadron with which he set out. Of the failing 
of his plans, of his own illness, of the death of his son 
in action, of his bitter outburst of reproach against 
Keymis that galled that gallant sailor to suicide — there 
is surely no necessity to repeat the details of these fa- 
mous tragedies. 

Far better for him had Raleigh — like Cavendish and 
his fellow Devonians, Drake and Hawkins — died at sea. 
He sailed into Plymouth on the 21st of June, 1618, a 



THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH TRADE 79 

broken-hearted, solitary, and doomed man. Three 
months later he stood on the scaffold, and felt the edge 
of the ax he did not fear, since it was, as he explained 
in the broad and soft Devon speech that he had never 
lost, **a sharp and fair medicine to cure him of all his 
diseases.'* 

It was a triumph for Gondomar, the cynical Spanish 
ambassador who had ceaselessly intrigued and worked 
against him, as well he might, being an enemy. But 
James and his creatures had not that excuse. 

So much for Raleigh, and for the rest of the navigators 
of that period. Only a fraction of the number of their 
names and voyages has been given here. But these may 
serve to recall some faint breaths of the atmosphere of 
one of England's greatest ages. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE BUCANEEKS 

Origin of the Bucaneers — Hostilities between the cattle hunters of His- 
paniola and the Spaniards — Reprisals taken by the "Boucaniers" — 
Dignity of the "Brethren of the Coast" — John Esquemeling on this sub- 
ject — A remarkable community — Its socialistic laws — A comparison in 
this respect with Mission settlements of Paraguay — ^The laws of the 
bucaneers — Wild and savage pomp combined with careful business ar- 
rangements — Meticulous rules of partnership and insurance — "No prey, 
no pay!" — Respective results of a profitless and successful cruise — 
Scenes in the bucaneers' town — Feats of the "Brethren of the Coast" 
— Reasons for their success — Bravery of the Spaniards — Instances of 
predatory strategy and daring — Viscount Bury on the bucaneers — Their 
life and circumstances ashore — Food, costume, and customs — How men 
became bucaneers — Friendship between the Brethren of the Coast and 
the Indians — The Island of Juan Fernandez — A haven to the sea-rovers 
— A thieves' kitchen to the Spaniards — Official order for the extinction 
of the island goats — The step from a bucaneers' establishment to a Brit- 
ish colony — British sections of the bucaneers — Lewis Scot — John Davis 
— The chronicles of Basil Ringrose — Drastic rules of life adopted by 
some of the crews — ^The celebration of divine service — Prohibition of 
gambling and profanity — An instance of Captain Sharpe's merciful tend- 
encies — Occasional amenities between the bucaneers and Spaniards — 
Some notes from Ringrose's diary — Pregnant passages — Some prominent 
captains — Coxon, Sawkins, Sharpe, Watling, Lewis Scot, John Davis, 
Teach, Kidd, Cowley, Wafer — Dampier's youth — How he joined the 
Brethren of the Coast — A bucaneer merely by chance — His connection 
with the castaways of the Island of Juan Fernandez — Sir Henry Morgan 
— His treacherous and greedy character — A medley of the jackal and 
the lion — The last of the genuine bucaneers — Captains Woodes Rogers 
and Stephen Courtney — A voyage that was only partly of the bucaneer 
character — The expedition is cordially received by the inhabitants of a 
small Brazilian town — Some amazing toasts — The finding of Alexander 
Selkirk — Captain Rogers' abstemious preparations for attack — The 
voyage of Captains Clipperton and Shelvock. 

WE now arrive at one of the wildest and most 
stormy of all South American periods, that of 
the bucaneers. There is no need to enter at 
any length here into the origin, history, or social causes 

'80 



THE BUCANEERS 81 

of these grim amphibious beings who at the height of 
their power pursued three principal callings: the tend- 
ing of their own plantations, the hunting of ownerless 
wild cattle, and the capture of Spanish ships, towns, gold, 
and goods. 

It is natural to suppose that the behavior of this ut- 
terly reckless and cosmopolitan set of men would have 
been wild enough in the most favorable circumstances. 
The effect, therefore, of the repressive and irritating 
policy of Spain on these desperate characters may be 
imagined. "Without a doubt Spain brought most of her 
freebooter troubles on herself. The first men who on 
the Hispaniolan prairies smoked their meat over the 
Boucane, or woodfire, wondering by day at the gorgeous 
butterflies and at night marveling at the green-white 
flame of the passing fireflies, were hunters pure and 
simple — hunters, moreover, of the wild cattle whose 
enormous herds had only come into existence since the 
Spanish conquistador es themselves had depopulated the 
island and laid it waste. The Boucaniers, as a matter of 
fact, never entirely abandoned this first occupation of 
theirs, and even at the height of their later power they 
would continue their chase after the hides and meat, 
until the diminishing herds of cattle forced them to pay 
a less-divided attention to the profitable ''pickings" af- 
forded by their fellow men. 

With these newcomers, the Boucaniers, the Spanish 
officials did not find the matter so easy. The hunters, as 
well as the smugglers of all nationalities, were well able 
to look after themselves. It is true that on many occa- 
sions they were attacked by the Spaniards. More than 
once their settlements were surprised by these, and their 
houses burned, and the blood of women and children 
sprinkled over the charred embers and the tobacco leaves 
of the young plantations. Among such treacherous at- 
tacks were some on the budding regular British colonies 
— deeds at which Oliver Cromwell growled with righteous 



82 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

fierceness, and with difficulty was restrained from flying 
at the throat of the Spanish Empire. 

But, so far as revenge was concerned, there was no 
need. The blood of the massacred welded together new 
and fiercer communities. Moreover, the fact that they 
faced death, torture, or the most terrible form of life- 
long labor in the mines added a further zest and spice 
even to the bucaneers' racy recklessness. The *' Breth- 
ren of the Coast" were only too willing, not only to 
fight their own battles, but to adapt themselves to the 
most merciless methods of warfare. In the end the 
Spaniards found themselves worsted at the inhuman 
game of reprisals, and most bitterly did they atone for 
their early barbarities. The instruments of revenge 
which their deeds forged against them may not have 
been highly tempered, but they served! The name of 
Morgan alone is synonymous with blood and tears for 
hundreds of leagues along the Spanish Main. 

In the eyes of many the scale on which the bucaneers 
conducted their operations raised these from the status 
of mere plunderings to the dignity and pomp of actual 
warfare — since after all the chief moral distinction be- 
tween the two seems to lie in the point of numbers! 
This, at all events, was the view taken by the seventeenth- 
century translator of John Esquemeling's bucaneer 
reminiscences. In his enthusiasm he claims that this 
work, in itself vastly interesting: ''informs us (with 
huge novelty) of as great and bold attempts in point of 
military conduct and valor as ever were performed by 
mankind; without excepting here either Alexander the 
Great or Julius Caesar or the rest of the Nine Worthies 
of Fame." 

Now here is a wholehearted apologist of the bucaneers. 
*'Walk up!" he cries, standing on the step of his prom- 
isingly reddened booth. "Walk up, my peaceful ama- 
teurs of vicarious slaughterings! Presently I will pull 
the curtain back and show you rapine and bloody gold on 



THE BUCANEERS 83 

a scale such as you never dreamed of! If you don't find 
the thing as wholesale as an American beef-trust you 
shall have your money back, on my word as a bucaneer's 
translator!" 

Decidedly at the height of their power the bucaneers 
made up one of the most extraordinary communities that 
the world has ever seen. At this period the South 
American atmosphere would seem to have been peculiarly 
ripe in socialistic experiments. At the same time that 
the socialist republic of the Jesuits flourished in Para- 
guay, the bucaneer island settlements in the Caribbean 
Sea began to adopt the policy of sharing all things, in- 
cluding plunder, in common. It is true that nothing 
could have differed more widely than the actual existence 
of these two peoples. Where the white-shirted Indian 
converts went out in a chaunting procession to till the 
fields, the bucaneers, their garments dyed the approved 
scarlet by means of the blood of cattle, sailed out over 
the bright blue swell to sink and bum in search of plun- 
der, and those who resisted were made to feel the force 
of the armory of cutlasses, knives, and pistols stuck in 
each freebooter's belt. And, if they landed, woe to the 
town that heard the tramp of the advancing brethren, 
each ship's company under some fanciful flag designed 
by its captain, the homely bunting occasionally adorned 
with the mocking gaiety of fluttering ribbons ! 

But it must not be imagined that such expeditions were 
conducted on the mere rollicking and licentious lines of 
pillage, riot, and murder. Though they usually abounded 
in all three, the bucaneers ' voyages were only undertaken 
after the most careful, exact, and businesslike prepara- 
tions. It is curious to reflect that that grim but pic- 
turesque object, a bucaneers' ship under a full press of 
sail, with the Brethren of the Coast in their caps, buskins, 
and blood-hued garments disposed about the deck, re- 
sembled in its ethics nothing so much as a modern limited 
liability company, with its articles of association meticu- 



84 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

lously drawn out, with its ofiBcers and surgeon as direc- 
tors, and with its captain as chairman ! 

Yet it was so. Afloat, the association of the men who 
went partners ashore in tobacco-planting and cooking 
was carried to further lengths. Not a single bucaneer 
vessel, provisioned with pork and salt turtle, pulled her 
anchor up through the warm and shining waters of 
Jamaica or Tortuga, but had the respective shares of 
profit of the ships ' company accurately arranged, as well 
as the salaries of the captain, the surgeon, and the car- 
penter — the paid servants of the crew, who ate and lived 
with the rest, and shared all else alike. Then there was 
the insurance against the accidents of the cruise, and 
the risks of round-shot, bullet, and cutlass. So many 
pieces-of-eight for a right arm shot off, so many dollars 
for a pierced eye, and so on throughout the entire cate- 
gory of maimed members. There was just one if on 
which the entire basis of pay, profit, and insurance rested. 
**No prey, no pay," was the immutable law of the 
Brethren of the Coast. A profitless cruise meant empty 
pockets and hunger for all, from captain to cabin-boy, 
and probably a lapse into a period of slavery into which 
a debtor was forced by his creditor ashore in order to 
discharge his liability. So these rovers on the tropical 
seas took particular pains that no cruise should be fruit- 
less, and saw to it that no consideration for life or limb 
should stand in the way. Among themselves there was 
no mercy extended to a breaker of the fraternity 's laws. 
Marooned on a bare yellow strand surrounded by the 
mocking blue sea, they died of thirst and their bones 
grew bleached among the shining shells — objects seen by 
very few beyond the gulls, the flying-fish, and the now 
incurious sharks. 

The reverse of this picture heaves with the wildest 
and most bizarre life. On their own mountainous and 
wooded island of Tortuga some hints of the bucaneer 
celebrations of a successful cruise have been given by 



THE BUCANEERS 85 

Esquemeling — that rare being who combined the merits 
of a freebooter and a historian, and who published a 
book in Amsterdam in 1678. When a ship, emptied of 
powder and shot, pork and turtle, but filled with gems 
and pieces of eight, sailed into the rocky and verdurous 
harbor of Tortuga, there would ensue wild scenes as the 
shouting men came ashore, and swaggered past the palms 
and flowers to the drinking-booths and gambling dens. 
Perhaps a mining-camp in the mid-nineteenth century 
would have supplied the nearest parallel. Thus we find 
a sturdy desperado ruffling it in the middle of the street 
by the side of a cask of wine, forcing every passer-by to 
drink with him at the pistol's mouth. We get a glimpse 
of another, too, running .amuck up and down the street, 
slashing indiscriminately at those of his own profession, 
well able to look after themselves, and at the terrified 
crowd of peaceful, parasitical, and fat-pursed traders. 
But it was doubtless the bucaneers who paid for their 
fling in the long run. The trader had a very simple 
revenge for all such risks. He put up the price of 
powder, bullets, and brandy! 

Had five-pound notes existed, doubtless the bucaneers 
would have eaten them in sandwiches as did the later 
antipodean miners. As it was, they preferred the gam- 
bling road to a penniless condition. Then, hungry, 
moody, and fierce, they would demand a new ship and a 
new venture. They were short and busy days, those of 
affluence. The tastes of the rovers saw to it that they 
had not long ashore. 

How was it, it may well be asked, that all this plunder 
was won with comparative ease, and that a few men in 
dug-out canoes were able to capture great Spanish 
galleons? The most natural assumption would be that 
of an extraordinary want of resolution among the Span- 
iards. But this was not so. What of the three hundred 
and fourteen men of the Spanish garrison of Chagres 
who fought on until only thirty men remained on their 



86 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

feet, and of these thirty, twenty were wounded? No lack 
of courage there, surely! Ringrose and others, more- 
over, bear witness to the shambles into which many a 
galleon's decks were turned before its crew would sur- 
render. And, as Esquemeling's translator demands, in 
justice to the Spaniards : 

''Were not 600 killed upon the spot at Panama, 500 
at Gibraltar, almost as many more at Puerto del Principe, 
all dying with their arms in their hands and facing 
bravely the enemy. . . .?" 

No, the success of their enterprises is to be attributed 
to the extraordinary initiative and daring of the buca- 
neers, employed against a brave enemy, and to that ex- 
traordinary combination of cunning and complete reck- 
lessness which made a hardened Brother of the Coast 
the match of half-a-dozen ordinary men. What, for in- 
stance, can exceed the callous ingenuity of the rovers, 
who, their shot failing them on a land attack, pulled to 
pieces a great organ in a neighboring church, and blazed 
away its pipes from their cannon's mouths at the amazed 
and discomfited enemy! 

From a strategical point of view these haunts of the 
bucaneers were admirably situated. Across the narrow 
neck of Panama still ran the "gold road," astride of 
which Drake in his own time had planted himself, and 
which still groaned beneath the weight of the riches trans- 
ferred from the Pacific coast. Moreover, much of the 
treasure had stuck en route. Such towns as Panama and 
the City of Cartagena to the east were well worthy of 
more than one sacking, as many a sea-rover could have 
told you with grim complacency. 

Viscount Bury in his "Exodus of the Western Na- 
tions" has most ably described the type and ambitions 
of the later recruits of the "Brethren of the Coast": 

"It became known to lawless vagabonds, the scum of 
great European cities, that twice a year, there passed 
among the islands of the tropical seas a procession of 



THE BUCANEERS 87 

stately galleons, deep with the weight of bars of gold 
and silver, and bales of costly merchandize, and pearls, 
and gems. It was but natural that men, feeling habitu- 
ally the sharp pinch of misery, should turn with fierce de- 
sire to the adventurous life that presented such allure- 
ments ; that they should contrast the squalor and hunger 
in which they passed their days with the brilliant career 
of the bold 'Brethren of the Coast'; that they should 
long to replace famine and sordid rags with the laced 
coat and unlimited licence of the bucaneer; that they 
should dream of the riches that might reward the lucky 
adventurer, who should enjoy but for one hour the plun- 
der of a royal galley, or thrust his arms elbow-deep into 
a sackful of pearls from Margarita. ' ' 

It was such men as these, completely reckless, who 
sailed down by hook or by crook through the steady 
breezes of the Trades, landed at Tortuga or Jamaica, 
learned to curse the mosquitos, to live on pork, pigeons 
and strange birds, turtle, land crabs and curious fish, 
bananas, mangoes, and wondrous fruits — and without a 
doubt only accustomed themselves to the new fare after 
much indigestion and many torturings of their interiors, 
for which the new and almost incredible superabundance 
of tobacco only compensated in part. Then they would 
fraternize with the easy-going crowd of daredevils they 
found there, and swilling brandy in the soft shade of 
the palms, would make overtures to the company of a 
stout ship fitting out for a cruise. Then, having made 
his first raiding voyage, learning to drink the crudely 
ceremonious toasts on board to the accompaniment of 
the roaring cannon, and possibly having fleshed his cut- 
lass, the new Brother of the Coast would find his pocket 
weighed down with unaccustomed pieces of eight, and 
would buy an Indian woman ''at the price of a knife, or 
any old ax, wood-bill or hatchet," as Esquemeling has it. 
If he were wise, he would observe the same good faith as 
did his companions toward the Indians of the mainland 



88 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

and the islands, and would do nothing to destroy the time- 
honored alliance and intimacy between the Brethren of 
the Coast and the infinitely useful native hunters, fishers, 
guides, and gleaners of information. Failure in this 
would have been a serious matter for a budding bucaneer, 
for this friendship of the Indians was keenly valued by 
the sea-roving community. 

Sometimes, but much more rarely, an ambitious cruise 
would lead the bucaneer into the Pacific. There, for a 
certainty, his ship would rendezvous, provision and water 
at the Island of Juan Fernandez. Surely throughout all 
the oceans of the world there was never so minute an isle 
of such moment as that of Juan Fernandez. In the eyes 
of the average person its chief claim to fame is that it 
once harbored the lonely Alexander Selkirk. But, not- 
withstanding the extent to which it has been prosed and 
sung, that event is in reality a very minor one in the his- 
tory of the place. 

The true significance of the Island of San Juan lay 
in the fact that it stood as a refuge, not alone for a single 
castaway but for every vessel of non-Spanish nationality 
which had beaten and buffeted its way from Atlantic to 
Pacific. It was a place of shelter by the way on whose 
grassy stretches the tired and scurvy- stricken crews of 
a corsair or royal ship could cast themselves do\\Ti in 
the shade of the trees, and breathe in restful peace while 
recuperating in preparation for their raids on the Pacific 
coast. 

To the bucaneer, the slopes and trees and grasses of 
Juan Fernandez stood out from the ocean as a godsend : 
in the eyes of the Spaniards the place loomed darkly as a 
thieves' kitchen. They grudged the great wealth of fish 
which frequented its coast, and the edible plants with 
which its soil abounded. And they had reason; for it 
was by such fresh food that the spent and invalided hostile 
sailors regained a condition of health that was peculiarly 
unwelcome to the Spaniard! The numerous herds of 



THE BUCANEERS 89 

goats, moreover, which flourished in the island found 
favor neither with the viceroy sitting in his palace at 
Lima, nor with the governor of Chile stationed in his 
more modest habitation. Let there be no more goats on 
Juan Fernandez ! was the official command, and packs of 
hounds were ferried across to the island to swallow the 
nuisance and to forestall the hostile sailors. Even then, 
a large proportion of these irritating goats succeeded in 
eluding the hounds, and in preserving their unpatriotic 
carcasses for the benefit of heretic enemies. A bitter pill, 
this, for the Spanish authorities, for undoubtedly steril- 
ity and lifelessness in Juan Fernandez would have meant 
the preservation of many sacked cities on the Pacific 
coast. 

In what may be termed their home waters of the Carib- 
bean Sea the deeds of many of these Brethren of the 
Coast were destined to play a larger part in history than 
they themselves suspected. It was not such a very long 
step from a bucaneers ' establishment to a British colony. 
So much was discovered by the bucaneers themselves on 
more than one occasion, when quite suddenly the pres- 
ence of a royal governor put an end to their free and 
easy councils. It was in a sense a compliment to them- 
selves that their Government had taken them, and their 
lands, seriously. But it is not to be wondered at that 
these red-garmented gentlemen sulked for a while when 
they found themselves cold-shouldered. They were con- 
cerned chiefly with their pockets, and decidedly such part 
as they played in the building up of so magnificent a 
structure as that of the British Empire was not pre- 
meditated. 

We are concerned here with the British section alone 
of the cosmopolitan army of bucaneers, and must pass 
over the wild doings of such of their comrades as 
Bartholomew Portugues, Eock Brasiliano, and Frangois 
Lolonois. At the same time one may pause to remark 
that this species of nomenclature is eloquent enough in 



90 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

itself. Where the personal name is sunk beneath a na- 
tional or territorial substitute, it may be taken for 
granted — as in one or two small, floating, and reckless 
communities to-day — that the motive for this is not in the 
least concerned with pride of repute or achievement ! 

So far as their deeds are concerned, the doings of these 
British bucaneers — like those of their comrades of other 
nationalities — very rapidly become monotonous to re- 
late. They soon began to vary the capturing of ships by 
the sacking of coast towns, Lewis Scot setting an ex- 
ample in this respect by his storm of Campeachy — an ex- 
ample that was followed with success by John Davis and 
the rest of the Brotherhood. 

The record, indeed, is monotonous in its mere wild- 
ness. Chases at sea, cutting-out expeditions, boarding- 
parties, attacks on lordly galleons frequently carried out 
in mere dug-out canoes, river expeditions in little na- 
tive craft ; battles, burnings, and plunderings ashore ; the 
stripping of the dead, the taking of prisoners, and their 
occasional execution, the excesses and riots which fol- 
lowed a victory — it is on these points that the changes of 
the tale must be rung over and over again. 

Yet even the most reckless and dissolute of all these 
ships' companies was not altogether inhuman. The 
chronicles of Basil Ringrose — the second historian of the 
true genus bucaneer, who eventually met his death at the 
hands of the Spaniards on the occasion of a shore raid 
in 1688 — showed that the ordering spirit of humanity had 
allowed no such departure from its laws. 

It would, of course, be the simplest matter to picture 
the life of the British bucaneers as a continuous pande- 
monium of oaths, blows, drunken orgies, and general 
debauchery. Of all these there was a ruddy and plentiful 
harvest; but there was a good deal beyond. The exist- 
ence of these strange folk was sufficiently complex. On 
some vessels, for instance, divine service was celebrated 
each Sunday, and it is possible enough that these services 



THE BUCANEERS 91 

were undertaken with some dim but genuine fervor, for 
mere respectability and outward appearance were of less 
than no account in the community! How much it com- 
forted a dying Spaniard to know that a service of prayer 
had preceded a surprise attack on his vessel is far more 
doubtful. One or two bucaneer crews actually went 
further, and their articles forbade profanity and gam- 
bling — of course merely until a more fitting opportunity 
arose ashore, since the regulation was clearly one of 
expediency rather than morality. 

There appear, moreover, to have been fairly frequent 
protests against actions of cruelty in cold blood, and 
Eingrose himself relates that on one occasion the notable 
bucaneer. Captain Sharpe, when his pleadings for the 
life of an old captain were of no avail, took water and 
washed his hands, vowing that he, for one, would be in- 
nocent of the man's blood. 

Eingrose himself seems to have been inclined to mercy, 
for he relates with indignant warmth how having saved 
the lives of some Spanish prisoners from the hands of 
their hated enemies, the Mosquito Indians, his men would 
have given them back to their would-be murderers as 
soon as his back was turned. He succeeded in saving 
them for the second time, and his reward came when, 
having been himself shortly afterwards captured by the 
Spaniards, one of the men whom he had rescued chanced 
to be on the spot. Then ensued a scene of the kind which 
one does not usually associate with the relations between 
bucaneer and Spaniard. For the Spanish captain, hav- 
ing heard the story, embraced Eingrose, and feasted him 
and his companions. Then he gave them back their 
canoe, and bade them ''Go in God's name, saying withal, 
he wished us as fortunate as we were generous." 

Although this was a sufficiently astonishing incident, 
the optimist in human nature will read with some com- 
fort that it was not alone of its kind. On another occa- 
sion on that very same voyage some bucaneer prisoners 



92 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

were "very civilly entertained" at Africa on the Pacific 
coast, "but more especially by the women." 

Indeed, to show the amazing and versatile fashion in 
which a bucaneer's day might be altered, it will suffice 
to cull a final extract from Ringrose. The manner in 
which the affairs of goats, duels, mutinies, drunkenness, 
and revelry are mixed up is surely eloquently and incom- 
parably casual! Here is the notable fragment: 

"August 12th, in the morning, we came to an anchor 
at the aforesaid isle {that of Plate). We sent our boat 
ashore with men, as we had done formerly, to kill goats, 
but we found them to be extremely shy and fugitive, 
compared with what they were the last year. Here it was 
that our quartermaster, James Chappel, and myself 
fought a duel together on shore. In the evening of this 
day, our slaves agreed among themselves, and plotted to 
cut us all in pieces, not giving quarter to any, when we 
should be buried in sleep. They conceived this night af- 
forded them the fittest opportunity, by reason that we 
were all in drink." 

The discovery of the plot, its prevention, and the shoot- 
ing of a slave, occupy three or four more lines. The end 
of the paragraph discloses everything apparently 
straightened out again, every one ' ' being very merry all 
the while with the wine and brandy we had taken in the 
prize." Truly, an efficient bucaneer's life was a breath- 
less one ! 

This extraordinary terseness of Ringrose 's diary fre- 
quently causes its reader to wonder not a little as to what 
really lay at the back of these simple little sentences. 
"James Chappel and myself fought a duel together on 
shore!" And here is another, relating to a captured 
ship: "In this vessel I saw the most beautiful woman 
that I ever saw in the South Sea." Put the two to- 
gether, compare them, and I think that you may safely 
drop a tear to the memory of the most beautiful woman 
in the South Sea ! 



THE BUCANEERS 93 

I have no intention here of attemping to enter into the 
lives and deeds of all the British bucaneers. The preg- 
nant paragraph just quoted must suffice to demonstrate 
the impossibility of this. Their passages across the 
Isthmus of Panama from one ocean to another, their em- 
barcations in frail canoes, mosquito flotillas that become 
metamorphosed into fleets of galleons as the boarding 
parties became busy and the prizes grew — these inci- 
dents in themselves suffice for numerous bulky volumes. 

Of the men themselves, too, enough has already been 
written to send them down through all the ages to pos- 
terity clearly painted in all the wild and glaring detail 
of their lives. Their names conjure up some grim 
specters of the past, and some really gallant deeds as 
well. Captains Coxon, SawMns, Sharp, Watling, Lewis 
Scot, John Davis, Teach, Kidd, Sharp, Cowley, Wafer — 
each of these Brethren of the Coast has hacked his own 
niche in history, and is memorable for what he took 
rather than for what he gave ! 

The name of Dampier, however, gives one pause, for, 
like many more of the tribe than casual history records, it 
was a curious combination of circumstances and sheer 
fatality rather than temperament and natural inclination 
which drove him to join the Brotherhood. A Devon 
farmer's son, he approached the life of the bucaneer by 
the respectable path of a Jamaica plantation manager's 
post, and, curiously enough (though some pessimist might 
retort that it was naturally enough), it was only after his 
marriage that he began to tread the same decks as the 
bucaneers. Dampier soon proved himself a fine naviga- 
tor, circumnavigating the world among his other feats, 
and the advantages of his education enabled him to record 
his adventures in a much more distinguished fashion than 
that of the remaining British bucaneer chroniclers, Sharp, 
Cowley, Eingrose, and Wafer. 

It was Dampier 's fate to be closely connected with the 
castaways of the Island of Juan Fernandez, for it was 



94 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

his vessel which — weighing anchor in a hurry on the ap- 
pearance of three Spanish men-of-war — accidentally left 
behind the friendly Mosquito Indian known as William, 
the first hermit of Juan Fernandez. It was on a much 
later voyage, too, in 1708, that the vessel in which Dam- 
pier sailed took up from the island the much more famous 
Alexander Selkirk. As for Dampier himself, he died in 
obscurity. He was in reality a very notable man, a skilled 
navigator, and a bucaneer by the merest chance. 

It was different with the redoubtable Sir Henry Mor- 
gan, the admiral of the bucaneers, and the most notorious 
of all their number. Morgan, whose headquarters were 
Jamaica, was heart and soul a Brother of the Coast — 
save that he lacked just that one virtue which even the 
most dissolute of the company was wont to boast, loyalty 
to his fellows. Perhaps Morgan founded his actions as a 
bucaneer on the basis of his early experience in the West 
Indies. The fact that on his first landing at Barbados 
he was treacherously sold as a slave cannot have softened 
his natural instincts ! For all that, his success was phe- 
nomenal, and culminated — ^having first remorselessly 
blown up a castleful of Spaniards — in his storming of 
Panama, when a wailing eddy of nuns and priests were 
driven forward remorselessly as the front rank of his 
two thousand desperadoes. As to the sack of Panama, 
no other plundering in the world has exceeded it in the 
wildness and terror of its debauch. When it was all 
done, moreover, the greedy and treacherous Morgan left 
more than weeping women and the corpses of men be- 
hind him. He was followed by the curses of his allies, 
whom with his usual cool and calculating daring, he had 
left in the lurch. For in his ship, as it dipped away from 
sight down below the horizon, were many tens of thou- 
sand of pieces of eight, and a great hoard of gold and 
silver ornaments that should have been theirs. 

Undoubtedly in Morgan's character the jackal added 
a very shrill howl to the lion's roar. What, for instance, 



THE BUCANEERS 95 

could be a more eloquent study in consummate meanness 
than the pains he took to seek out the bodies of his 
drowned comrades as they floated on the sea — not in 
order to give the corpses decent burial, but to despoil 
them of their rings and richer clothes. 

But Morgan had the fortunate knack of floating on the 
surface of involved affairs. He escaped the vengeance 
of his wronged comrades, and continued to escape it 
when, a knighted governor of Jamaica, he cynically 
hounded down in the name of the law those very men by 
the side of whom he had once fought, slain, and plundered, 
and with whom he had sworn eternal comradeship. 

Decidedly Morgan appeared as the loudest squawk in 
the swan song of the bucaneers, for at the close of the 
seventeenth century when a Bourbon came to the throne 
of Spain the true Brethren of the Coast passed away, and 
were succeeded by lesser and indiscriminate pirates, 
whose methods by comparison were vulgar and parochial. 

We may close this chapter with some details of one or 
two voyages which, although they recall the bucaneer 
flavor up to a certain point, were, officially, of an author- 
ized and privateering nature. 

Captain Woodes Eogers set sail from Bristol on the 
1st of August, 1708, in command of a thirty-gun ship, the 
Duke. Dampier sailed with him as one of his officers, 
and he was accompanied by the twenty-six gun ship, the 
Duchess, commanded by Captain Stephen Courtney. The 
expedition held a commission from Prince George of 
Denmark, Lord High Admiral of England, to cruise in 
the South Seas against the Spaniards and French. 

Having captured a prize or two, the vessels put in at 
Eio de Janeiro, casting anchor near a village some 
leagues from the capital. Here the fact that some French 
privateers were in the neighborhood caused an unusually 
warm welcome to be extended to the British seamen by 
the Portuguese, doubtless largely owing to the hope of 
added protection thus brought them. 



96 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Indeed — apart from the routine of chasing vessels, 
which after a time grows monotonous to relate — one of 
the notable circumstances of this voyage was the lengths 
to which the cordiality between the Portuguese and the 
British was carried — though this did not prevent one or 
two of the usual attempts at inveigling British seamen on 
shore — in order that, as deserters, their labor might be 
available for the mines ! 

The record of one day alone at the little town of Angre 
de Reyes suffices to take away the breath of one familiar 
with the usual ceremonious and stilted intercourse such 
as characterized the relations between Iberian governors 
and British sailors. This was the 27th of October, when 
the governor, most unreservedly friendly, sent word to 
know if the British would lend their ''music" to head a 
procession in honor of the Virgin Mary. By all means ! 
replied the seamen. And so behold the procession set- 
ting out through the very modest streets of Angre de 
Reyes, banners waving, candles flaming, incense smoking 
— and, at the head of all, the ''music" of the British 
vessels, which consisted of a hautboy and two trumpets, 
the blowers of which — owing to the too generous local 
offers of liquor — were just a little the worse for wear. 
But they appear to have maintained decorum, no doubt 
largely owing to the presence in the procession of Cap- 
tain Rogers, Captain Courtney, and the other officers of 
the Duke and Duchess, each of whom carried a wax 
taper. 

But by far the most amazing thing was yet to happen. 
The procession at an end, the British officers, having been 
feasted, returned to their ships in a hospitable mood, and 
then invited the chief men of the place to come aboard 
and be entertained in their turn. Presently, when the 
liquor had got well under way, the Portuguese toasted 
the pope, to whom the sailors drank with jovial enthusi- 
asm. Then Rogers, declaiming in his turn, gave first 
the health of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and then, 



THE BUCANEERS 97 

in order that no one should be forgotten, called on his 
guests to drink to William Penn, the Quaker. And to 
both of these the Portuguese drank deep ! What a day ! 

Whether Rogers, following the time-honored customs 
of the bucaneers, had these toasts saluted by salvoes of 
artillery I know not. They may have been considered 
sufficiently startling without any such addition. 

It was on this voyage that Rogers discovered Alex- 
ander Selkirk after his four years' and four months' 
lonely residence, and that super-castaway was made mate 
of the Duke on the spot. 

The remainder of the log is made up of the usual chases 
and captures on the Pacific, and of a lengthy, patient, and 
cat-like lying in wait for the Manila galleon. When one 
appeared (that proved worth two million dollars to the 
crews) it is only with mixed feelings that one may read 
of Rogers ' preparations for the attack. Having no spir- 
ituous liquor on board, he caused a great kettleful of 
chocolate to be made for the men ! Could anything have 
been less rollicking — less appropriate to the latitude and 
period ! Then he called his crew to prayers, and success- 
fully engaged the galleon. 

In 1719, Captain Clipperton, who had served under 
Dampier, set sail for the South Seas with his two vessels, 
one, the Success commanded by himself, the second, the 
Speedwell, in charge of Captain Shelvock, formerly of 
the royal navy. 

Less than a week after they had left Plymouth a severe 
gale separated the two vessels, which did not meet again 
until chance happened to bring them together in the 
Pacific Ocean. The misfortune was felt the more 
keenly by the Success, since, as ill-luck had it, the Speed- 
well carried the entire stock of liquor for the two ships. 

The Success appears to have attempted nothing in the 
Atlantic, arriving at Juan Fernandez vexed by scurvy 
and beaten by storms. Here they stocked their larder 
with a great number of the goats with which the island 



98 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

abounded, but on the other hand they left behind them 
two seamen who, desiring to play at Alexander Selkirk 
in company, had deserted. After this comes the usual 
record of prizes, and on account of a stay at Cocos Is- 
land, in order that the crew should have an opportunity 
of recovering from the sickness attending a long cruise. 

Off the coast of Mexico, Clipperton chased a ship which, 
when overhauled, proved to be the Jesu Maria, com- 
manded by Captain Shelvock, and manned by forty of 
the survivors of the Speedwell's crew. Here was a dra- 
matic meeting. The Speedwell, it appeared, had been 
wrecked on the Island of Juan Fernandez, and with her 
timbers a smaller vessel had been built, by means of 
which they had captured their present prize. 

The Island of Juan Fernandez had seen many queer 
things, but probably nothing stranger than the boat which 
set out from its shores, holding forty persons, crowded 
together, four live hogs, one cask of beef, and over two 
thousand smoked conger-eels, on the odorous bundles of 
which the men, for want of room, were forced to lie ! 

It soon became evident to Clipperton that Shelvock 
and his crew were no longer inclined to sail in company 
with him, nor to share the considerable booty they had 
amassed. So the Success sailed away to China, leaving 
Shelvock to his own devices. The latter, after some 
further cruising, followed in the track of the Success to 
the west. 



PAET II 
THE BRITISH IN COLONIAL SOUTH AMERICA 



CHAPTER V 

EAELY BRITISH ADVENTURERS IN SPANISH AMERICA 

Reasons for the slender English records during the colonial period of the 
continent — Influence of the Inquisition — The Spaniard in his official 
and in his private capacity — Questions of faith — Englishmen who sailed 
to Paraguay in 1534 with Pedro de Mendoza's expedition — The town of 
"Londrez" — Cause of the nomenclature — The Chilean census of 1788 — 
A late proof of the phenomenal dearth of foreigners — Conditions which 
obtained in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries — Influence of the 
Spanish occupation of Brazil — Method of receiving strangers in that 
colony — Inhospitality to foreigners general throughout South America 
until the independence of the continent — Early English Jesuits in 
South America — The kidnapped London boy, John Martin, develops into 
Joao d' Almeida, a noted Brazilian saint — His enthusiastic scourgings of 
the flesh — ^Veneration in which he was held — Father Thomas Fields — 
A famous Irish Jesuit — Captured by an English bucaneer — Alleged fate 
of the most violent of the captors — Father Field's work in Paraguay — 
Sacred ceremonies at sea — English vessels engaged in the slave trade — 
Privileges granted to these — South America as a refuge for the social 
outcast — Irish settlers — Their popularity in the continent — Special con- 
cessions granted them — Their success as pastoralists — ^Method of part- 
nership with the South Americans — Ambrose O'Higgins — The greatest 
British figure in South America — Circumstances of his youth — Arrival 
in South America — ^As a humble immigrant he takes up a minor com- 
mercial career — ^His success as an itinerant trader — The road from that 
situation to the viceregal throne — O'Higgins, when middle-aged, enters 
the Spanish colonial service — His work among the Araucanian Indians 
— ^Various governorships held — Increasing velocity of his upward career 
— His liberal policy as captain-general of Chile — Ambrose O'Higgins 
becomes Viceroy of Peru — His achievements while holding this high 
office — Death of O'Higgins — His career compared with that of his son 
Bernardo. 

THE records of the English during the early 
colonial period of South America are naturally 
very slender. So far as Spanish America was 
concerned, this could scarcely have been otherwise. "We 
have already seen that the political and religious aim of 

101 



102 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the Spanish Empire was the complete seclusion of its 
colonies. When not even every province of Las Espanas, 
the Spains themselves, was given free access to the 
South American colonies, it may be imagined what diffi- 
culties lay in the path of the foreigner — and, above all, 
the heretic — ^who had a longing to taste of the vast riches 
in which the Southern shores were reputed to abound. 

The marvel, therefore, is not that those English expedi- 
tions which harried the shores of Spanish South Amer- 
ica should have met with so few of their own fellow coun- 
trymen, but rather that they should have been brought 
into contact with so many. In centers such as Lima and 
other places where the Inquisition was powerful and in- 
quisitors numerous there is no doubt that unrepentant 
** heretics" were burned or otherwise put out of the way 
by the annihilating laws of the auto-da-fe. But Span- 
ish South America was wide, and the dread even of the 
Inquisition did not succeed in obtruding itself the entire 
length of the Pacific, to say nothing of the Atlantic coast. 
There were many kindly Spaniards, official and other, 
who shrugged their shoulders, and winked at the growing 
intimacy between the South American colonists and a 
stranded mariner or two. 

Nevertheless, such cases were rare enough, and such of 
their countrymen, as the Northern seamen met with on 
their expeditions were nearly always of the Koman Cath- 
olic faith. These seemed to come to the surface of the 
spray of events with considerable frequency. They were 
met with both on shore and in command of Spanish ves- 
sels, and such meetings were by no means always of a 
friendly character. 

Indeed, there are instances of English Roman Catholics 
in the service of Spain accompanying some of the earliest 
of the expeditions to South America. One is said to have 
accompanied Pizarro's force, and three — John Rutter of 
London, Nicholas Coleman of Hampton, and Richard 
Liman of Plymouth — sailed with Pedro de Mendoza in 



EARLY BRITISH ADVENTURERS 103 

1534 to the mouth of the River Plate, thence to Paraguay, 
where they appear to have settled down. 

Out of the mists of the early Spanish colonization of 
the interior of the continent the aftermath of a sudden 
explosion of cordiality still remains. In the Province 
of Catamarca, which now belongs to the Argentine Re- 
public, is a small village boasting the name of '^Londres." 
This is the result of one of the farthest-flung eddies which 
the marriage of Mary of England to Philip II of Spain 
set in being. The nomenclature must have been the work 
of a tactful local governor. Nevertheless, considering 
the extreme remoteness of Catamarca from Spain, it is 
quite possible that, by the time the news of the marriage 
arrived and the name had been given, the hope of na- 
tional alliance, and the cause of cordiality, had already 
vanished. 

To what extent foreigners had been kept out of the 
Spanish South American dominions may be gathered 
from a census taken in Chile in 1788. Out of four hun- 
dred thousand inhabitants only seventy-nine were given 
in as foreigners. Of these, representing thirteen na- 
tionalities, there were only three who were not Roman 
Catholics. 

It is likely enough that this list was not a complete 
one. It stands to reason that many complacent local 
officials would not care to have it on record that they 
were harboring too liberal a number of these strangers 
who were so unpopular with the highest authorities. 
And juggling with figures was so simple a matter under 
the Spanish Empire that it had become almost a hobby 
on the part of nearly every official, however straitlaced 
he might have been in other respects ! Even so, it may 
be taken for granted that the number of strangers in 
Chile and elsewhere at that period were extraordinarily 
limited. 

If this state of affairs obtained at so late a date as the 
end of the eighteenth century, it may be imagined how 



104 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

much more severe were the conditions which applied in 
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In what might 
be termed the mid-colonial period of South America, 
when, Portugal having freed herself in Europe from the 
yoke of Spain, the great colony of Brazil reverted to the 
mother country, it might well have been expected that an 
alteration of policy would occur in this portion of the 
continent. But this was not so. The germ of the Span- 
ish colonial theory had eaten too deeply into the con- 
temporary Portuguese mind to be lightly eradicated. 

Thus when the affairs of Brazil came again to be ad- 
ministered by the Portuguese, the foreigner who spread 
his sails in anxious haste to make the ports of the new 
Brazil met with an abrupt shock of disillusion. If the 
authorities were in a complacent mood, his ship might be 
allowed to anchor in one of the harbors and a certain 
amount of very guarded intercourse might be permitted. 
But all trips from the ship to the shore were rigidly dis- 
couraged, and this policy was applied even to those old 
national friends, the British. No party of foreigners, in 
fact, was allowed to land unless under the close and in- 
cessant supervision of an armed guard — a most unsatis- 
factory method of drinking in first impressions of a 
strange country! 

It was not, indeed, until the Spanish colonies became 
republics, and Brazil a monarchy, that was brought about 
the removal of the barriers that had been set up in the 
face of the foreigner. (_JEven for some decades after the 
independence of the continent had been achieved, the old 
theory of the exclusion of the foreigner persisted in one 
or two remote regions, notably in Paraguay. 

The actual starting-point of the careers of the Eng- 
lishmen in the mainland of South America is, of course, 
somewhat vague and difficult to determine. We have al- 
ready referred to those who accompanied Pizarro and 
Pedro de Mendoza. They doubtless played their part 
manfully, but not in a fashion that left a permanent rec- 



EARLY BRITISH ADVENTURERS 105 

ord behind them. The earliest of the English who 
achieved this were Jesuits. It is known that there were 
several English priests at Cordoba, among them being 
Thomas Falconer and Thomas Brown. At least one 
saint of the early Brazilian Church — or of the company 
of Jesuits in Brazil — can claim English birth. It ap- 
pears that one of the most conscientious self-scourgers 
and wrestlers with the devil among the Jesuits in Brazil, 
was actually born in London in the reign of Queen Eliza- 
beth. This was the friar Joao d 'Almeida, whose original 
name was John Martin, and who is said to have been kid- 
napped by a Portuguese merchant when he was ten years 
of age. Seven years after this he was taken out to Brazil, 
and entered the company of Jesuits, his superior being 
the famous Father Anchieta. 

The great repute for sanctity of which Joao d 'Almeida 
soon became possessed was not lightly won. It is diffi- 
cult to conceive a soul that could have been a deeper 
enemy of its imprisoning flesh. Indeed, the only worldly 
possessions in which he took the least pride were the in- 
struments with which he was accustomed to chastise that 
despised flesh of his. These made up an elaborate col- 
lection. There was every possible variety of scourge, 
from whipcord to wire ; there were hair shirts, and many 
varieties of the most satisfactorily painful wire cilices; 
there were sharp pebbles and hard grains of maize such as 
would promote the most comfortable of shoes from their 
state of ease to perdition, and then there were the nat- 
ural and welcome allies of the spirit in the shape of mos- 
quitos, fleas, and similar cordial assistants in the cam- 
paign against the cursed matter. And all this is to say 
nothing of the fastings carried out with so bitter a de- 
termination that the fainting body stumbled while the 
spirit soared! 

Notwithstanding their mutual hatred, the spirit and 
body of this remarkable man clung together for no less 
than eighty-two years. At least let us say this of him. 



106 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

that, though his particular methods of attaining to a 
righteous state were medieval and crude, they had the 
merits of an undoubted sincerity and of the fullest faith. 
It is easier to smile at the methods of Friar Joao d 'Al- 
meida than to test them ! 

The friar was not without honor in his own community. 
The veneration with which he was regarded increased 
steadily during his lifetime, until it had attained to a 
pitch that, at the time of his last and fatal illness, con- 
vulsed Eio de Janeiro and all the surrounding country 
with grief, and every possible object that could be treas- 
ured as a relic of the saintly man was carefully pre- 
served. 

A far more generally known Jesuit priest of British 
birth was Father Thomas Fields — or Tomas Filds, as the 
Spanish chroniclers record the name. This was an Irish 
Jesuit, one of the foremost in strenuous endeavor of a 
most notable company, who sailed out from Europe in 
1587 in order to assist in the great mission work which 
had been begun among the Indians of Paraguay, 

According to the Jesuit writers. Fathers Charlevoix 
and Del Techo, the vessel in which this small company of 
Jesuits was sailing to South America was captured by 
an English bucaneer when off the mouth of the river 
Plate. It is said that the fathers were brutally treated 
by the crew of the vessel which captured them, and it is 
possible enough that they did suffer considerably at the 
hands of some rough sea-dogs. At the same time, the 
most orthodox of modern Jesuits will scarcely deny that 
these two old historians have strained both their minds 
and pens just a little in their enthusiastic haste to point 
a moral! 

It appears that, not content with maltreating the per- 
sons of their captives, the bucaneers took to scattering 
some treasured relics that the missionaries bore with 
them. This was more than the Jesuit fathers could suf- 
fer, and a struggle was brought about by their endeavors 



EARLY BRITISH ADVENTURERS 107 

to save the relics. Enraged, the bucaneers flung Father 
Ortega, one of the Jesuits, overboard, and he was only- 
rescued after some hesitation. But then fell the venge- 
ance which preserved the missionaries from further ill- 
treatment. With an extraordinary rapidity the chief 
blasphemer developed a malignant boil in his leg. So 
rapidly did the growth spread that, although his com- 
panions amputated his leg, it was not in time, and the 
miserable nian died in great agony within twenty-four 
hours. 

In the end Father Fields and his companions arrived 
safely in Paraguay, and the labors of Fields among the 
Indians — ^his interminable wanderings through forest, 
swamp, and lagoon in search of fresh converts to bap- 
tize — are set down among the most prominent of those in- 
tensely interesting records which deal with the work of 
the Jesuit missions. 

In the eighteenth century there were undoubtedly many 
more British friars, already domiciled in Spain or Portu- 
gal, who sailed in Iberian vessels to South America. But 
very few .of these left records behind them. Now and 
again a corner of the veil is lifted, and we are given a 
glimpse of the stately departure of the fleet and of the 
galleons, of the ceremonies, rites, and feastings, and of 
the occasional passage in a cock-boat across the shining 
blue waters from one vessel to another. We learn, too, 
from English passengers how, on the day dedicated to 
Saint Ignatius, voyaging Jesuits would celebrate a great 
feast, and would march in procession about a ship hung 
with white linen and flags, whose masts were decorated 
with the Jesuit arms and with pictures of Saint Ignatius, 
while the cannon roared their salutes, and at night the 
rigging glowed with lanterns, and flashed and banged with 
fireworks. 

Having dealt with this considerable number of saintly 
figures, we may now pay some passing attention to a 
few sinners — not that the slave traders of the eighteenth 



108 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

century were considered a whit more sinful than folk 
who dealt in objects other than human. 

In the eighteenth century, as in Richard Hawkins ' day, 
a shipload of black labor-instruments was always wel- 
come. British vessels obtained special privileges when 
engaged in this trade, and their owners possessed slave 
establishments of their own in Buenos Aires, where the 
original building to house slaves was constructed in 1702 
by an English company that had secured a monopoly for 
the importation of Negroes. In 1713 the Treaty of 
Utrecht provided some notable concessions to the English. 
In addition to the privilege of trading at the famous fairs 
of Portobello (at which the goods, with the exception of 
the large amounts smuggled, were bought to supply the 
whole of Latin America) they were conceded the right of 
slave-dealing in the whole of Spanish America. 

Some years later, when war broke out between Eng- 
land and Spain, Zavala, the governor of Buenos Aires, 
seized the English slave-trading station, which was rees- 
tablished at the end of a short war. During this period 
many English vessels visited the port of Colonia for 
smuggling purposes. 

The slave-trading concession was subsequently with- 
drawn, but was renewed again in 1784 and in 1791, when 
ships that brought slaves were permitted to load the prod- 
uce of the country for their return voyage. This latter 
somewhat startling innovation caused much tribulation 
to the Spanish merchants, who had until then enjoyed the 
monopoly of these shipments, and when an English vessel 
was loading with hides we find them protesting vigor- 
ously against the "fatal consequences which must ensue 
to the national commerce"! Small wonder that the 
safety-valve of smuggling flourished ! The concession was 
subsequently added of carrying away the produce of the 
country in the vessels that had brought slaves. This 
privilege was resented by the more reactionary of the 
ofiicials, who endeavored to put a stop to it toward the end 



EARLY BRITISH ADVENTURERS 109 

of the eighteenth century, an attempt that had little effect 
beyond increasing the smuggling traffic, which had from 
the beginning acted as the safety-valve of South Amer- 
ican commerce. 

In addition to the reputable British who found them- 
selves in the South American Iberian colonies at this 
period, there were a certain number of shadier specimens 
of that nationality who had taken refuge in some parts 
of the Southern continent. Decidedly no shelter could be 
more certain than that of the South American soil for 
the spendthrift or criminal of a certain standing and of 
sufficient means to make his way thither. 

Having changed his religion, he would be received with 
open arms by people, whose views, whatever else they 
might have been, were at all events sincere and enthusi- 
astic. Then, having learned to suck up Yerha Mate in- 
stead of sipping his dish of China tea, and to drink red 
Spanish wine instead of his claret, yellow Jerez, or purple 
port, he would accustom himself to the life of the new 
continent, and become as dead as drying bones to the 
old. 

In Spanish America the most welcome of all the set- 
tlers who arrived from overseas during the last few de- 
cades of the colonial period were the Irish. Their skill 
in curing meat had brought them considerable reputation 
among the colonials. This and the fact that their re- 
ligion was Roman Catholic caused them to receive spe- 
cial privileges, and they had established themselves in 
considerable numbers in Argentina before the War of 
Liberation. 

It may be remarked here that an Irish Lieutenant- 
Colonel in the Spanish service, Don Carlos Morphi, was 
governor of Paraguay in 1766. He is said to have been 
of considerable assistance to the Jesuits in the trials at- 
tending their expulsion. 

Later, the Irish took up the occupation of shepherds, 
and — seeing that their foreign birth caused them to be 






110 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

immune from the military duties to which the others were 
liable — their services were in great request. A species 
of partnership was usually entered into between the Irish- 
man and the South American. The former would bring 
into play his labor and his shepherd's knowledge; the 
latter would provide the livestock and the land. By 
this arrangement was laid the foundation of many a 
South- American — as well as an Irish-South-American — 
fortune that has to be counted in millions of pounds 
sterling to-day. 

Infinitely the most salient figure among the Britons of 
Colonial South America is that of Ambrose O'Higgins, 
the bare-footed youngster of the county Meath tenant 
farmer, who rose to be viceroy of Peru. The most clearly 
O'Higgins 's career is regarded, the more astonishing it 
appears. The mounting force of such men as — leaving 
the medievals and ancients out of the question for want 
of space! — Clive, Napoleon, and Garfield is sufficiently 
bewildering to contemplate. But the difficulties in the 
path of these were as molehills compared with the moun- 
tains that O'Higgins had to surmount. 

Of these. Napoleon's career is that which, for one rea- 
son only, most nearly approaches that of the ponderous 
viceroy whose boyhood was spent in running errands at 
Dangan Castle. But, although the Corsican in his early 
youth was not over-familiar with the language of his 
future empire, he was born, and his deeds were achieved, 
in the midst of his fellow subjects of France. 

O'Higgins lacked even this commonplace advantage. 
It is true that he had an ecclesiastical uncle in Spain who 
possessed a certain amount of influence — sufficient at all 
events to offer the young nephew who had come out to 
him from Ireland, seemingly without a vocation for the 
priesthood, the opportunity of proceeding to the Spanish 
South American colonies as a peddler. 

Conceive, if you can, the gap between the foreign and 
friendless young hawker, landing on the strange alluvial 



EARLY BRITISH ADVENTURERS 111 

flats of Buenos Aires, and the Viceroy of Peru — the 
holder of an office coveted by every one of those grandees 
of Spain who were privileged to remain with heads cov- 
ered in the presence of the Emperor himself — a post 
which had scarcely ever been held by the most eminent 
even of the Spanish colonials, and which required the 
proudest of quarterings as well as a European reputation 
for statesmanship ! For in no capital were the formali- 
ties of family and the privileges of blood more rigidly in- 
sisted on than in the severe and unbending court of Spain. 

Yet the man who struggled across the Andes to Chile 
and Peru, and set up his humble stall in the shade of 
the cathedral at Lima, bridged this mighty gap, and won 
his way to the throne of the most important vice-royalty 
in the world. 

The main features of Ambrose O'Higgins's life in 
Spanish South America are well enough known. Wan- 
dering over the immense tracts of country from Vene- 
zuela in the north downwards to Central Chile, in order 
to dispose of his wares, it was this strenuous and itin- 
erant life which gave him that wide topographical knowl- 
edge which was to serve him so well in his later official 
existence. 

O'Higgins prospered in his commercial life, and, hav- 
ing made sufficient money for his needs, he offered his 
services to the Chilean Grovernment for the surveying of 
roads and engineering work in the Andes and in the 
South. It speaks well for the broadmindedness of the 
Chilean colonial authorities that they accepted his offer. 
They had no cause to regret this, and both traveling men 
and beasts rapidly found cause to congratulate them- 
selves on O'Higgins's work. It is an extraordinary ex- 
ample of the workings of fate that at this early period 
of his official career O'Higgins, serving the royal inter- 
est, caused those much-needed shelter huts to be erected 
in the Andes passes — refuges which some fifty years 
later, after the Chilean defeat of Ramcagua, assisted his 



112 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

republican son and his followers to make their escape 
from the pursuing royal forces ! 

Shortly after this 'Higgins obtained a commission in 
the Spanish Royal Engineers, and from that point his 
promotion was assured and rapid. 

A point to be noticed in 'Higgins' remarkable life is 
that he was no less than forty years of age when he en- 
tered the Spanish colonial service. Middle-aged, he had 
already retired from one career, and, according to the 
ordinary ethics of life, there was no reason why he should 
not have sat down in peace for the rest of his life in the 
shade of his poplar and orange trees, surrounded by his 
vineyards and roses, and the countless flowers and fruits 
of the beautiful Chilean valleys. 

But 'Higgins never seems to have contemplated any 
such retirement. He had other views. His mercantile 
career had led him to the point at which a young Spaniard 
enjoying reasonable influence might enter the Govern- 
ment with all his ambitions and ideals shining before him 
at their highest and freshest. 'Higgins flung away the 
cares and details of his past, and entered the arena, 
handicapped by some twenty years. It would be an un- 
derstatement to say that he caught up with the others 
hand over fist: from that moment his career was mete- 
oric ! 

Advancing from rank to rank, he first defeated the 
fiery Araucanian Indians, and then won the deep esteem 
of those untamable warriors. In 1777 he obtained his 
colonelcy, and shortly after he was made brigadier-gen- 
eral. Among his achievements at this period was the 
founding of the town of Balenar, a name which he gave 
to it in honor of his Irish birthplace, Ballinary. He him- 
self retained close and affectionate connection with this 
name throughout; for when he was created a count he 
chose the style of Balenar for his title. 

The astounding velocity of 'Higgins 's upward career 
was now increased. Reaching the rank of major-general 



EARLY BRITISH ADVENTURERS 113 

in 1788, lie was created Marquis of Osorno, and became 
Captain-General of Chile in 1792, while in 1794 he re- 
ceived a further military step to the grade of lieutenant- 
general. 

O'Higgins was now Governor of Chile, and his great 
abilities began to find their full scope. His most notable 
work was in connection with administrative reform, the 
abolition of slavery, the founding of towns, the construc- 
tion of roads and harbors, and other progressive meas- 
ures of the kind. 

Occasionally O'Higgins 's liberal policy was startling 
in its effects, and brought him into conflict with his su- 
perior, the mighty Viceroy of Peru. But 'Higgins per- 
sisted in his views, and boldly argued with the King of 
Spain himself, until the latter, yielding to the sound com- 
monsense of 'Higgins 's point of view, ended by accord- 
ing him his warm support. 

The crowning acknowledgment of the great Irishman's 
services occurred in 1796, when Ambrose 'Higgins was 
made Viceroy of Peru. This post — the most coveted and 
exalted beneath those of actual royalty throughout the 
world — ^he held with great honor until his death in 1801 
at the age of eighty-one. There is a portrait in existence 
of Ambrose O'Higgins, when Governor of Chile, that 
seems to me to reveal most admirably the physiognomy 
of the greatest British subject who ever set foot on 
South American soil. The countenance is essentially Hi- 
bernian: the jaw is massive; the mouth is firm, and the 
eyes and the expression of the face are characteristically 
benevolent. 

There are probably more varied lessons to be learned 
from the career of Ambrose O'Higgins than from those 
of the majority of great men. For one thing, it would 
seem to prove that the wiser springs of human nature are 
not necessarily tainted to their depths by a mistaken 
form of government. The errors of the Spanish colonial 
policy are patent, and none attempt to deny that the 



114 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

general Spanish administration of the period was cor- 
rupt to a degree. Yet it was the officials brought up in 
so unsatisfactory a school who freely ^ recognized Am- 
brose O'Higgins's merits, and who assisted the man with- 
out court influence to that exalted place where he could 
best display his talents. This honest appreciation, more- 
over, extended from the lower ranks to the highest. The 
King of Spain himself had corresponded with, argued 
with, and praised his brilliant viceroy. But he had never 
set eyes on him, nor listened to the brogue-tinged Span- 
ish of the chief dignitary of his South American do- 
minions. O'Higgins' case was that of sheer talent tri- 
umphant. Judging from the general conception of Span- 
ish colonial rule, it may have been an anomaly. In any 
case it affords a warning against the dangerous vice of 
over-generalization ! 

I have referred to Ambrose 'Higgins as the greatest 
British subject who ever set foot on South American 
soil, and this distinction is freely admitted on all hands. 
But I would go beyond this. To my mind the name of 
O'Higgins is one of the greatest which has ever shone 
out of the entire history of South America. It is true 
that it first appears there a generation or so before such 
compelling patronymics as Bolivar, San Martin, and those 
others which the stress of the War of Independence raised 
high above the masses of the populace. 

But the name of O'Higgins has something which these 
others lack. It is, in fact, unique. It has a double luster ; 
because it was borne by two generations with an almost 
equal brilliancy. It is seldom that a genius such as Am- 
brose O'Higgins the father, the greatest viceroy of roy- 
alist Spanish America, bears a man such as Bernardo 
'Higgins the son, first chief of the New Republic which 
sprang up from the ashes of his dead father's govern- 
ment. 

In South American opinion the son usually ranks as the 
greater of the pair. I think that the chief reason for 



EARLY BRITISH ADVENTURERS 115 

this is that Don Bernardo stands for the triumph of the 
republican principles. But for this very natural wave 
of sentiment, I think that the verdict would be reversed. 

It is true that Bernardo 'Higgins did not begin where 
his father left off. On the contrary, the illegitimate and 
somewhat neglected son of the powerful viceroy was left 
to carve out for himself the most important step in his 
career — a fact which makes the double luster all the more 
brilliant. But at all events he had his father's great 
name at his back, and his manhood's career was begun 
among kindred people whose customs and language were 
his. His father had enjoyed no such advantages as 
these. 

From the point of view of crucial politics, Bernardo 
'Higgins may have played the more important part; 
but from the point of view of actual achievement it seems 
to me that the palm must go to the father — to Ambrose 
'Higgins, who governed a country a dozen times larger 
than the island where he had been born a peasant's 
child! 



CHAPTER VI 

SOME EIGHTEENTH-CENTUKY BKITISH VOYAGES TO SOUTH 

AMERICA 

Commodore Anson'3 Voyage — Aims of the expedition — Composition of the 
squadron — Patients of Chelsea hospital deemed an efficient force of ma- 
rines by the authorities — Official response to protests — Scene at the 
embarkation of the unfortunate invalid veterans — The force strength, 
ened by recruits — The squadron sets sail on the 18th of September, 1740 
— Narrowly misses falling in with a Spanish fleet off the island of 
Madeira — Subsequent calamities which befel Admiral Pizarro's vessels 
— Anson's vessels arrive at Santa Catharina, in Brazil — Conduct of the 
Portuguese governor — His greed and hostility — Anson, proceeding to 
the south, arrives at the harbor of San Julian — Foul weather separates 
the squadron — Shipwreck of the Wager — Subsequent adventures of the 
lost vessel's officers and crew — Fate of the mutineers — The Centurion 
with a diminished and enfeebled crew arrives at the island of Juan 
Fernandez — The ravages of scurvy — Within the next two months arrive 
at long intervals the Tryall, Gloucester, and Anna Pink, all similarly 
afflicted — Appalling death roll of the squadron — Rest and recuperation 
at Juan de Fernandez — Species of fish obtained — Anson plants vege- 
tables and fruits — The island dogs — Agents introduced by the Spaniards 
for the destruction of the goats — Survivors of these latter — The Cen- 
turion, Gloucester, and Tryall set sail with little more than a third of 
their original crews — The squadron begins its aggressions on the Pacific 
coast — Chivalry displayed by Anson toward his prisoners — How this 
was appreciated by the Spaniards of both sexes — Incidents at the cap- 
ture of Paita — ^Seamen's humor — Various prizes — After securing much 
booty Anson lies in wait for the Manila galleon — Abandonment and 
burning of the now unseaworthy Gloucester — The Centurion after pro- 
longed cruising captures the Manila galleon, and immense treasure — 
She returns home after a cruise of nearly four years — A tale of Captain 
Campbell, one of Anson's officers — Commodore Byron's voyage in the 
Dolphin, accompanied by the Tamar — Intercourse with the Patagonian 
Indians — Some native ideas of generosity — Embarrassing demonstra- 
tions of friendship — Captain Wallis's voyage in the Dolphin, accom- 
panied by the Swallow — An incident at Madeira — Description of the In- 
dians within the Straits of Magellan — Discovery of Pitcairn's Island — 
Captain Cook's voyage in the Endeavour — Some incidents on the South 
American coast — Spanish curiosity concerning his discoveries in the 
Pacific Ocean — Length to which the seclusion of the Spanish colonies 

116 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 117 

was carried — An instance affecting a United States whaler — Capture of 
the missionary ship Duff — Mutiny of the convicts of the Lady Shore — 
Missionaries and convicts meet at Montevideo — The convicts' advances 
rejected — Services subsequently rendered by these to the British sol- 
diers of the river Plate expeditionary force — The cruise of H.M.S. 
CornwalUs. 

IN the year 1740 there were circumstances connected 
with the manning and equipment of a British fleet 
when commissioning for a long cruise that might 
well try the patience of the most reasonable commander. 
This Commodore Anson found out to his cost when pre- 
paring to beard the power of Spain in her South Amer- 
ican colonies. 

The task before him was to sail round South America, 
and, after harrying the Pacific coast, to attack Panama, 
which fortress, it was planned, should be approached at 
the same time from the Atlantic by a second, and power- 
ful, British expedition which was to land at the isthmus 
and advance along Sir Henry Morgan's road, thus re- 
peating history in a more respectable fashion ! 

As related by Richard Walter, the chaplain of the Cen- 
turion, the squadron consisted of five men of war, a sloop 
of war, and two victualing ships. 

They were the Centurion of sixty guns, four hundred 
men, George Anson, commander; the Gloucester of fifty 
guns, three hundred men, Richard Norris, commander; 
the Severn of fifty guns, three hundred men, the Honor- 
able Edward Legg, commander ; the Pearl of forty guns, 
two hundred and fifty men, Matthew Mitchell, com- 
mander; the Wager of twenty-eight guns, one hundred 
and sixty men. Dandy Kidd, commander ; and the Try all 
sloop of eight guns, one hundred men, the Honorable 
John Murray, commander: the two victualers were 
Pinks, the largest of about four hundred, and the other of 
about two hundred tons burthen. 

After this Mr. Walter lets loose a round shot of satire, 
which the circumstances amply justified. ''Besides the 
complement of men borne by the above-mentioned ships 



118 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

as their crews," he adds, ''there were embarked on board 
the squadron about four hundred and seventy invalids 
and marines under the denomination of land-forces. ..." 

These ''invalids and marines," as a matter of fact, had 
comprised as bitter a pill as it was possible for poor un- 
desirable humanity to provide for the chastening of a 
naval commander's spirit. Instead of a smart regiment 
of foot and three independent companies of a hundred 
men each such as had been promised for the expedition 
by the authorities, these latter in the end satisfied their 
consciences by collecting five hundred out-patients of 
Chelsea hospital — men who, from their age, wounds, or 
other infirmities, were incapable of serving further in 
marching regiments! Anson was aghast at the idea of 
having this physical refuse of humanity shot upon his 
ships, and his protest received the support of Sir Charles 
Wager. But the latter received a stunning broadside of 
crass officialdom! "He was told, that persons, who were 
supposed to be better judges of soldiers than he or Mr. 
Anson, thought them the properest men that could be 
employed on this occasion." 

The description of these "properest" men is sufficient 
to take one 's breath away, even after this lapse of nearly 
two centuries: 

"But, instead of five hundred, there came on board 
no more than two hundred and fifty-nine: for all those 
who had limbs and strength to walk out of Portsmouth 
deserted, leaving behind them only such as were literally 
invalids, most of them being sixty years of age, and some 
of them upwards of seventy. Indeed, it is difficult to 
conceive a more moving scene than the embarcation of 
these unhappy veterans. ..." 

One can picture Anson, surveying from his quarter- 
deck the pitiful sexagenarian stream, whose weak and 
palsied limbs were intended by the admiralty judges of 
"properest" men to make some shift at hearty and 
rollicking movements! One can imagine, too, the start- 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 119 

ing eyes and fallen jaw of Colonel Cracherode, who had 
come aboard to take up direct command of this army of 
unsound Methusalehs! 

At the last moment two hundred and ten of the rawest 
recruits were sent to the squadron to take the place of 
the enterprising invalids who had sufficient strength to 
drag their deserting limbs away. None of these recruits 
had yet learned to fire a musket, but they had at least the 
strength to hold a firearm to their shoulder, which seemed 
beyond the physical power of many of the first batch! 
Thus manned, on the 18th of September, 1740, Anson's 
squadron weighed anchor from St. Helens in the Solent, 
stood past the tree-covered shore of Bembridge, and tided 
it down the Channel, joining company for a time with a 
convoy of one hundred and fifty merchant vessels and 
their escort of six warships. Presently this great fleet 
bore off to the west, leaving Anson's ships to make for 
their first port of call, Madeira. 

Anson's voyage differs from almost every other ex- 
pedition of the kind, before or since, in that not only 
were the Spaniards well acquainted with its objects and 
destination, but they had actually fitted out a squadron 
of superior strength, and had sent it to lie in Anson's 
path. So that even when the British fleet was halting at 
one of its earliest calls in the Bay of Funchal the Span- 
ish admiral Pizarro with six ships, mounting three hun- 
dred and four guns, and manned by two thousand seven 
hundred men, was cruising in the quite near neighbor- 
hood. 

Many calamities were destined to befall both fleets be- 
fore they entered a home port again. Of the Spanish 
vessels only the flagship, the Asia, was ever destined to 
return to Europe, and that only after the most dreadful 
sufferings imaginable on the part of the crew : ' ' When 
by the storms they met with off Cape Horn, their con- 
tinuance at sea was prolonged a month or more beyond 
their expectation, they were reduced to such infinite dis- 



120 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

tress, that rats, when they could be caught, were sold 
for four dollars a-piece ; and a sailor, who died on board, 
had his death concealed for some days by his brother, 
who, during the time, lay in the same hammock with the 
corpse, only to receive the dead man's allowance of pro- 
visions." 

After this it is not surprising to learn that when the 
Spanish vessels, abandoning at length the attempt to 
round the Horn, put back into the river Plate they were 
manned by less than half of their original crews. 

Curiously enough, with the exception of the little Pearl, 
which once ran within gunshot of the Spanish squadron 
having mistaken it for her own, the two fleets did not 
once set eyes on each other. The British vessels pro- 
ceeded steadily on their course, Pizarro hovering about, 
and perhaps awaiting a more favorable opportunity in 
the Pacific Ocean — an opportunity which never came. 

So, seeing that to Anson's squadron the Spanish 
vessels never materialized themselves from out of the 
occasional vague wonderings as to their whereabouts, we 
may have done with them for the present, and follow 
the British sailors. 

Having taken in a brave store of the golden, full- 
bodied Madeira wine, Anson proceeded uneventfully to 
the southwest, and made his landfall on Sunday, the 
21st December at the Island of Santa Catherina in the 
south of Brazil. Here the squadron had some reason 
to expect a friendly reception, if only on account of the 
excellent relations which prevailed between Great Britain 
and Portugal. 

But Santa Catharina proved disappointing in almost 
every respect. In the first place, being midsummer 
south of the line, the spot abounded with venomous 
''muscatos" and equally noxious sandflies. Moreover, 
the governor of the place, Don Jose Sylva de Pazz, as Mr. 
Walter terms him, was small improvement on his insects. 
This personage, indeed, must have been of an extraordi- 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 121 

narily uncivil nature. He placed sentinels everywhere 
to see that the inhabitants of the place did not trade with 
the British except at ridiculous and prohibitively high 
rates. 

This governor of Santa Catharina, as a matter of fact, 
did not content himself with mere arrogance and in- 
civility. Being intimately connected in the smuggling 
trade with the governor of the neighboring Spanish ter- 
ritory to the south, he took care to send an express to 
the river Plate, warning the Spanish authorities of the 
arrival of the British fleet, together with a full descrip- 
tion of its numbers and condition! It was, in conse- 
quence, with no regret that the squadron sailed from 
Santa Catharina on the 18th of January. Mr. Walter 
has a note on this point : 

**The Island of St. Catherine's has been usually recom- 
mended by former writers, and on their faith we put in 
there . . . but the treatment we met with, and the small 
store of refreshments we could procure there, are suffi- 
cient reasons to render all ships for the future cautious 
how they trust themselves in the government of Don Jose 
Sylva de Paz.'* 

Sailing to the south, the squadron almost immediately 
fell in with bad weather, an unusual summer phenomenon 
in those latitudes. It was an ominous introduction, this, 
to the stormy realms of the Horn itself, but the sailors, 
knowing nothing of what was before them, sailed on 
cheerily enough to the Bay of San Julian, the final haven 
which all Pacific-bound navigators sought before plung- 
ing into the gray waters of the low latitudes. 

After this the logs of the squadron record a most ter- 
rible glut of misfortune. Sailing southward, past the 
entrance to the Magellan Straits, and onwards between 
the grim rocky shore of Staten Island and the mainland, 
they had as big a sailful of gales as the staunchest ship 
could stand, and, all but overwhelmed by the giant seas, 
were driven to the south and to the east far out of their 



122 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

course. Off Cape Noir the Severn, the Pearl, and the 
Wager, terribly storm-battered, parted company with 
the squadron. The Severn and the Pearl succeeded in 
rounding the Horn again and in sailing back to the 
Brazils, but the Wager left her bones in Latitude 47.S. on 
the bleak Chilean coast. 

The adventures of the Wager's crew are sufficiently 
noteworthy in themselves. The mutiny of a number of 
the men afforded a grim introduction to what was to 
follow. This culminated in the shooting by the captain 
of a midshipman named Cozens, a rebellious "sea-law- 
yer" — it may be as well to explain that a midshipman in 
those days was frequently a mature personage, who had 
nothing in common with the smart youngsters turned out 
from Dartmouth to-day. 

In the meantime the mutineers, who formed by far 
the larger section of the party, were busied in lengthen- 
ing the long-boat and preparing it for sea. When this 
was all but ready the shooting of Cozens gave them the 
pretext for placing the captain under a guard, vowing 
that they would take him home with them to England to 
be tried for murder. This was merely a subterfuge to 
prevent their commander interfering with their plans, 
and just before they set out they released him. 

On the thirteenth of October, five months after the 
shipwreck, the long-boat, rigged as a schooner, and tow- 
ing the cutter, took its departure. The complement of 
both boats was nearly eighty, so that they were crammed 
and loaded to the gunwale with men. As they stood 
to the south the mutineers had at least the remorseful 
decency to salute with three cheers the few officers and 
men who remained on the beach. 

Perhaps the most extraordinary part of the whole af- 
fair is that this long-boat did actually succeed in passing 
from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and, safely navigating 
the waters that had wrecked so many tall ships, sailed 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 123 

safely to Eio Grande in Brazil. But when that bat- 
tered little boat, three and a half months after it had 
started, drove its nose at length through the sunny waters 
on to the Brazilian shore, out of its eighty men only thirty 
gaunt beings sat within its water-worn planks! 

The captain of the lost Wager and those that remained 
with him took the barge and the yawl, and set out to the 
northward along the Chilean coast, in exactly the op- 
posite direction to that taken by the long-boat. After 
innumerable disappointments and hardships the officers 
became separated from their men, and there were left on 
a desolate shore Captain Cheap, Mr. Hamilton (lieuten- 
ant of Marines), the Honorable Mr. Byron and Mr. Camp- 
bell, both midshipmen, and Mr. Eliot, the surgeon. By 
the help of Indian guides they eventually reached the 
Spanish settlements, but only after innumerable further 
adventures and hardships. After a year's detention in 
Santiago de Chile four of their number were permitted 
to return to England. 

The remaining officer was Mr. Campbell, who *' having 
changed his religion, whilst at St. Jago, chose to go back 
to Buenos Aires with Pizarro and his officers, with whom 
he went afterwards to Spain on board the Asia; but hav- 
ing there failed in his endeavors to procure a commis- 
sion from the Court of Spain, he returned to England, 
and attempted to get reinstated in the British Navy. 

But in this endeavor the versatile midshipman met 
with no success. 

We may now return to the main British squadron it- 
self, or, rather, to that portion of it which remained com- 
paratively intact. As a matter of fact, the sufferings of 
the crews of those ships which kept the sea were very 
little less than those of the wrecked sailors. 

The Island of Juan Fernandez — that rendezvous of 
the mariners of all ages — had been chosen as the rally- 
ing point, and the condition in which the vessels struggled 



124 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

to its anchorage was remarkable and most pitiable. 
Scurvy had broken out among all the crews with the most 
terrible results. 

The first to arrive was the Centurion. How labori- 
ously and lamely this ship came to her anchorage on the 
9th of June may be imagined, seeing that she had a skele- 
ton of a crew that could muster no more than six fore- 
most men capable of duty in a watch! Since leaving 
the Solent she had buried two hundred and ninety-two, 
leaving a remainder of two hundred and fourteen. Two 
hundred of the dead men had succumbed to the spotted 
plague of the scurvy, and scarcely a man remained on 
board who was entirely free from the disease! 

Three days afterwards the Tryall sloop came stagger- 
ing in. She was sailed by a crew of five, the only be- 
ings on board who had strength to stand on their legs, 
and these were Captain Saunders, his lieutenant, and 
three of the men. Out of her small complement the 
Tryall had buried forty-two, of which thirty-four had 
fallen to the scurvy. 

On the 21st of June a ship was seen on the horizon to 
leeward of the island, with no sail spread but her courses 
and main-topsail. It was the unfortunate Gloucester, so 
faint that her spark of life was almost gone ! Assistance 
in men and provisions were sent out to her from the 
island, but, owing to the weather, and her tragic condi- 
tion which let her drift almost where she would, it was the 
23rd of July before she limped to her anchorage ! The 
unfortunate Gloucester had only eighty-two men left 
alive, a quarter of her original complement! 

The victualing ship, the Anna Pink, did not arrive un- 
til the middle of August, but, owing doubtless to the na- 
ture of her cargo, she appears to have come in fairly 
good condition. 

The death roll of the first three ships was not yet at 
an end, for many of the men died after they had got 
ashore, and as for the decrepit marines from Chelsea 




AMBROSE O HIGGINS 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 125 

Hospital — ^it was practically a case of a clean sheet with 
them — a wash out! 

There was just one further calamity which the Brit- 
ish squadron escaped, by a matter of hours only. They 
suspected nothing of this at the time, although the quan- 
tity of broken jars, fishbones, and ashes which the men 
found on their first landing gave them some reason to 
wonder. As they subsequently found out, an intact Span- 
ish squadron from Callao had been waiting at the island, 
and scarcely had their topsails sunk below the horizon 
when the worn and helpless Centurion came in sight of 
the land. 

But very soon the benfits of the fresh provisions found 
on the island became apparent. There were the seals, 
at first "not much admired, though they afterwards grew 
into more repute. ' ' There were also the fish, which, says 
Mr. Walter, furnished delicious repasts, among them 
cod of a prodigious size: *'We caught also cavallies, 
gropers, large breams, maids, silver fish, congers of a 
peculiar kind, and, above all, a black fish, which we most 
esteemed, called by some a Chimney-sweeper. ' ' 

Then there was the ' ' sea-cra-fish, ' ' as Mr. Walter terms 
it, very rightly claiming for the island specimens that 
they were probably the most perfect of their kind in the 
world : 

' ' They generally weighed eight or nine pounds a-piece, 
were of a most excellent taste, and lay in such abundance 
near the water's edge, that the boat-hooks often struck 
into them, in pulling the boats to and from the shore. ' ' 

Among his many admirable and thoughful acts, Anson 
played the Good Samaritan on the Island of Juan 
Fernandez. He sprinkled its fertile earth with the seed 
of carrots, lettuces, and other vegetables, and planted a 
great number of apricot, plum, and peach stones. These, 
of course, were for the benefit more especially of any 
British sailors who might find themselves dependent on 
the hospitality of the uninhabited island. But they 



126 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

served for all, as was evidenced by some Spanish prison- 
ers who were brought to England some years later. 
These desired to be presented to Anson in order to thank 
him for his great courtesy toward some relatives of theirs 
whom he had formerly held as prisoners. In the course 
of the conversation they told Anson that, before its cap- 
ture, their ship had touched at Juan Fernandez, and 
asked him if it were not he who was responsible for the 
groves of peach and apricot trees which now embellished 
the island. 

The crews of the squadron found that the goats in 
which the island formerly abounded had been largely 
reduced by the dogs introduced by the Spaniards in or- 
der to destroy a source of provision so convenient to the 
bucaneers and to the later hostile vessels. Richard 
Walter has a most interesting statement concerning 
Alexander Selkirk's custom of marking the ears of those 
goats he did not want, and letting them go free. He says : 

* ' This was about thirty-two years before our arrival at 
that Island. Now it happened that the first goat that 
was killed by our people, at their landing, had his ears 
slit; whence we concluded, that he had doubtless been 
formerly under the power of Selkirk. This was, indeed, 
an animal of a most venerable aspect, dignified with an 
exceeding majestic beard, and with many other symptoms 
of antiquity. During our stay on the Island, we met with 
others marked in the same manner; all the males being 
distinguished by an exuberance of beard, and every other 
characteristic of extreme age." 

Surely to do justice to the full romance of this story 
of the island goats the joint pens of Robert Louis Steven- 
son and Defoe would be needed! 

In September, the spring of the southern latitudes, the 
squadron was once again ready for sea. The Anna Pink 
had been broken up, and her crew had been distributed 
among the Centurion, Gloucester, and Tryall. Neverthe- 
less, instead of the nine hundred and sixty-one men which 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 127 

had manned these vessels on their departure from the 
Solent, they had to be content now with the three hundred 
and thirty-five survivors. Even so, rested, refreshed, 
and refitted, the squadron set out in high spirits — spirits 
which were not lowered when they almost immediately 
began to fall in with Spanish vessels and to take rich 
prizes, laden with silver and valuable merchandise. 

Indeed, Anson's cruise off the Pacific coast of South 
America recalls a voyage of Drake or of one of the early 
bucaneers, save that all the harsher incidents of the latter 
were softened and retrieved by the most excellent chiv- 
alry and courtesy of the British commander. It is pleas- 
ant to think that these qualities were appreciated to the 
full by the Spaniards, and that very nearly a century 
afterwards Anson's name was still held in honor along 
the Pacific coast! 

The difference in the attitude of his numerous prison- 
ers on their capture and on their release was almost hu- 
morously striking. Ladies, taken from a commandeered 
ship, boarded the Centurion in deep anguish fearful of 
all that was most brutal and bad at the hands of this 
raiding heretic ! But when they found themselves in un- 
disturbed possession of their own apartments on board, 
and that their sex and susceptibilities were held in com- 
plete reverence throughout, they took courage, and in 
the end asserted their will to no small purpose. For 
when the time came for them to go they refused point- 
blank to stir until they had been given an opportunity 
of thanking this very gallant sailor ! And, as every one 
of the male prisoners found himself under similar obli- 
gations, the White Ensign, though an enemy's flag, won a 
prodigious amount of honor along the coasts of Chile and 
Peru. 

With reference to the capture of Paita, Captain Hall, 
writing from that place in 1821 remarks: *'Lord An- 
son's proceedings, we were surprised to find, are still 
traditionally known at Payta and it furnishes a curious 



128 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

instance of the effect of manners on the opinion of man- 
kind, to observe that the kindness with which the saga- 
cious officer invariably treated his Spanish prisoners, is, 
at the distance of eighty years, better known, and more 
dwelt upon by the inhabitants of Payta, than the capture 
and destruction of the town." 

It is impossible to follow in detail this voyage of An- 
son's. As I have said, it may, from the practical point 
of view, be regarded as one of the early privateer's 
cruises — bowdlerized! There were ships captured and 
new prizes manned. There was the landing at Paita in 
Peru, already referred to, and the sacking and burning 
of that town under the nose of the hostile forces as- 
sembled just to the rear of it, who were ' * furnished with 
trumpets, drums, and standards," and who ''paraded 
about the hill with great ostentation, sounding their mili- 
tary music, and practising every art to intimidate us. ' ' 

But the sailors ashore refused to be intimidated by any- 
thing of the kind. In a rollicking fit they were adorning 
themselves with all the glittering and foppish clothes, and 
all the laced hats, they could lay their hands on, being 
vastly amused at each other's appearance. After a time 
the performance developed into a sort of pantomime: 
"Those, who came latest into the fashion, not finding 
men's cloaths sufficient to equip themselves, were obliged 
to take up with women's gowns and petticoats, which 
(provided there was finery enough) they made no scruple 
of putting on, and blending with their own greasy dress. 
So that when a party of them, thus ridiculously metamor- 
phosed, first appeared before Mr. Brett, he was extremely 
surprised at the grotesque sight, and could not immedi- 
ately be satisfied that they were his own people." 

This must have been a sight worth seeing, with its 
background of burning houses, the hostile troops of horse- 
men hovering in the mid-distance, and the mighty peaks 
of the Andes to fill in the horizon. 

There were other circumstances of the voyage which 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 129 

produced a more varied species of humor. For instance, 
when a launch cruising by the shore was overhauled and 
boarded, its occupants protested that they were but 
wretched poverty-stricken folk, carrying some cotton in 
jars. Yet, when discovered, these impoverished people 
were dining unreasonably well off pigeon pie on silver 
dishes. This in itself seemed a little out of place, and 
a closer investigation of the cotton revealed doubloons 
and dollars to the extent of nearly £12,000 secreted within 
it! 

By this time Anson had learned of the tragic failure 
of the expedition on the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of 
Panama — an undertaking that had promised every suc- 
cess, until the death of Admiral Vernon threw everything 
into a confusion which his successors tried in vain to re- 
duce to order. Anson had learned, too, how fifteen thou- 
sand splendid British troops had perished on the coast, 
some in the course of an attack on Carthagena, but the 
majority from fever and dysentery. There were no Brit- 
ish troops remaining now on the Isthmus, and that part 
of Anson's program fell away. 

One of the chief objects of the British squadron was 
now the great Manila galleon, which they knew was at 
sea, bound for the Mexican port of Acapulco. This 
Manila galleon was the kind of craft worthy to haunt the 
imagination of Drake himself. This was the vessel 
which carried the merchandise and coin to and fro be- 
tween the rich Spanish colonies of Mexico and the Philip- 
pines. 

The squadron cruised off Acapulco, every eye on board 
straining for a sight of the great lumbering galleon. 
Hopes and fears rose and fell from February onwards. 
Once, for a peculiarly anxious period, the squadron had 
to leave its station to water at Chequetan. At length, 
despairing of the galleon, the British squadron sailed 
away to the west on the 6th of May, lamenting not a little 
that the loss of those military efforts which had been put 



130 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

out of their power by the storm and the scurvy, should 
not have been compensated for in some degree by the 
blow to Spain such as the capture of the Manila galleon 
would have produced. 

On the voyage to the west the Gloucester became unsea- 
worthy, and, her crew having been transferred to the 
Centurion, she was set on fire and destroyed. Her loss 
was a blow to the expedition, and, scurvy breaking out 
again, for a time the prospect became as melancholy as it 
had appeared before the island of Juan de Fernandez 
was sighted. 

Fortunately the sailors found relief at the island of 
Tinian, one of the Ladrones, where many more adven- 
tures were met with than can be related here. From 
Tinian the Centurion, alone now, sailed to the Portuguese 
city of Macao at the entrance of the Canton River. Here 
the Centurion refitted completely, remaining until the 
following year, in April of which Anson set out again 
on a final attempt to intercept the Manila galleon. 

On the 20th of June, those on the Centurion still cruis- 
ing the South Sea, saw a sail rising up over the horizon to 
the southeast. It was the Manila galleon! She was a 
formidable antagonist since she carried five hundred and 
fifty men and thirty-six guns. But the Centurion's de- 
pleted crew knew their business, and after an hour and a 
half's engagement the Nuestra Senora de Covadonga, 
having sixty-seven dead and eighty-four wounded, struck 
her colors. 

On board of the prize were found 1,313,843 pieces of 
eight, and 35,682 ounces of virgin silver. After this the 
staunch Centurion sailed home, and safely dropped her 
*'hook" at Spithead on the 15th of June after a cruise of 
three years and nine months. 

In connection with this famous voyage of Anson's it 
may be remarked that a fine old sailor, Vice-Admiral 
Campbell, who died in 1790, served in the Centurion as a 
midshipman throughout the cruise. When a captain. 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 131 

Campbell served with Sir Edward Hawke in the impor- 
tant action which ended in the defeat of the Marquis de 
Conflans in 1759. Having greatly distinguished himself 
in the battle he was sent home to bear the news of the 
victory. Lord Anson drove his old comrade to the 
palace, and the following conversation, as related by 
John Marshall, will show that Campbell, notwithstanding 
his high connections, was possessed of a Spartan simplic- 
ity of manner. 

''Captain Campbell," exclaimed Anson, hugely de- 
lighted at the victory, ''the King will knight you, if you 
think proper. ' ' 

"Troth, my Lord," said Campbell, "I ken nae use 
that will be to me.' 

"But your lady may like it," protested Anson. 

"Weel then," conceded Campbell, "his Majesty may 
knight her if he pleases." 

No wonder the Centurion performed the feats she did 
when so splendid a commander as Anson had at his back 
such sturdy officers as Campbell. 

Commodore Byron set out in 1764 in the Dolphin for 
the purpose of making discoveries in the South Seas. He 
was accompanied by the frigate Tamar, commanded by 
Captain Mouat. Having made the usual call at Madeira, 
the two vessels proceeded to Rio de Janeiro, where the 
Portuguese — following a custom to which they had now 
become thoroughly addicted — enticed fourteen of the 
sailors away, and succeeded in kidnapping five of them. 

After this the vessels stood down toward the Magellan 
Straits, encountering a terrific storm, before which hun- 
dreds of birds fled, "shrieking through dreadful appre- 
hension," as a chronicler has it, and which laid the 
Dolphin on her beam end for a time. 

Just before the ships entered the Straits of Magellan 
some five hundred Indians were perceived gathered on 
the shore, and Commodore Byron underwent a sign con- 
ference with a friendly and gigantic chief of some seven 



132 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

feet in height, having one eye boldly painted about in 
black, while the other was quaintly ornamented with a 
corresponding circle in white. The Chief's variegated 
face, as well as the equally bizarre countenances of all 
the rest, soon lit up with delight at some judicious gifts 
of beads and ribbons. After this the two vessels entered 
the Magellan Straits, and it is just possible — though by 
no means probable ! — that the news of their civility had 
preceded them, for, an officer on landing in one of the 
channels was offered a dog by one of these Southern In- 
dian braves and a few months' old infant by an equally 
generous squaw! 

There is no doubt that the very friendly disposition of 
the officers and men had its occasional disadvantages! 
At a subsequent landing, for instance, they fell in with 
some very amiable, but quite primitive, Indians, whose 
most admired food was rotting whale's blubber. Never- 
theless, they showed themselves extraordinarily grateful 
for the gift of some biscuit from the ships, and when 
four of them, inveigled on board the Dolphin, were made 
to listen to the strains of a violin played by one of the 
midshipmen their excitement knew no bounds. One of 
them — probably the most emotional of the four — deter- 
mined to make some suitable effort at repaying these mo- 
ments of joy. So he dived over the Dolphin's side, and 
re-appeared with a quantity of his very best red paint — 
with which he carefully and solicitously covered every 
bit of the musical midshipman's face! The beaming na- 
tive then approached Commodore Byron himself, who 
only escaped a similar compliment with the greatest diffi- 
culty and by means of considerable tact. 

Very shortly after this, Byron, having already achieved 
some good survey work, left the coast of South America, 
and sailed away to the west. 

In August, 1766, only a few months after Commoodore 
Byron had brought her safely back into English waters, 
the Dolphin, commanded this time by Captain Walli.s, 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 133 

again sailed for South American waters. On this occa- 
sion the Dolphin was accompanied by the sloop Swallow 
and the storeship Prince Frederick. 

Wallis, steering practically the same course as Byron's, 
touched at Madeira. At this pleasant port Captain Car- 
teret of the Swallow soon found that nine of his sailors 
were missing. His anxiety was relieved by a message 
from the British consul ashore, who begged him — as much 
for the modesty of the Madeirense ladies, it was to be 
presumed, as for the credit of the British navy ! — to send 
off a boat without delay in order to take off the nine 
adventurous souls who were seated, perfectly naked, on 
the large gray pebbles of the beach. 

According to their own confession, when once again on 
board, the sight of the mountains and vineyards of 
Madeira had been too much for them! As they argued 
before their relenting captain, they, having started on a 
long and perhaps fatal cruise, could scarcely be expected 
to forego their last opportunity of getting a really im- 
portant skinful of wine ! So, undressing, they had tied 
their money in handkerchiefs, and had swum ashore. 

No historian that I know of has attempted to describe 
the scene at the Madeira hostel when the nine, rollicking 
and nude, put in their appearance. Such waste of im- 
pressionist material approaches the criminal! Had any 
bystander possessed a tenth of the enthusiasm for local 
color such as the nine Swallows exhibited for the local 
wine, this artistic gap would never have yawned ! 

Continuing its cruise, the squadron fell in with the stal- 
wart and curiously painted Indians on the eastern ex- 
tremity of the Magellan Straits, and the crews of the 
vessels watched some guanaco hunts, the natives gallop- 
ing after these animals, and bringing them down by 
means of the bolas. The intercourse was again friendly, 
and the sailors, being greeted with shouts of ''English- 
men, come on shore, ' ' found that the Indians had by this 
time picked up various English words and phrases. 



134 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Once within the Straits of Magellan, too, the squadron 
fell in with those same primitive Indians — or their very- 
near brethren — as had been encountered by Byron 's men. 
On this occasion a little more was learned about these 
folk who ** smelt as rank as a fox." If one of them, for 
instance, was given a fair-sized fish, he would kill it by 
a bite near the gills, and would instantly devour it. 

Once clear of the Straits, Captain Carteret accidentally 
parted company from the Dolphin and the Prince Freder- 
ick, and thus the many adventures which befell the two 
sections of the squadron in the South Seas were experi- 
enced separately. 

It should be remarked, however, that after leaving the 
coast of South America, the Swallow discovered Pit- 
cairn's Island — that home of so much future drama — so 
called from the name of the young officers who first set 
eyes on its land. 

The choice of the Swallow, by the way, for such an 
arduous voyage reflected small credit on the lords of the 
admiralty of the day. We have it on the authority of 
Lieutenant John Marshall, the editor of the Eoyal Naval 
Biography, that previous to this voyage she had been 
nearly twenty years out of commission. She had been 
slightly sheathed with wood to preserve her bottom from 
the worms, but, being nearly thirty years old, she was 
unfit for foreign service. But all the satisfaction that 
Captain Carteret could obtain from the authorities on 
this head previous to his departure was the assurance 
that "the equipment of the sloop was fully equal to the 
service she had to perform." 

It was in 1768, about twenty- two years after Wallis's 
and Carteret's expeditions, that Captain Cook set out in 
the Endeavour, accompanied by Mr. Banks. So far as its 
dealings with South America were concerned, the voyage 
was notable chiefly for the hampering restrictions which 
were placed on the intercourse between the ship and the 
shore at Rio de Janeiro, and for the extraordinary hard- 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 135 

ships endured by Banks and his companions on a land 
march in the snowbound southern extremity of the con- 
tinent. Seven years later Captain Cook again paid a 
brief visit to Tierra del Fuego. 

These visits of the famous Captain Cook to the South 
Seas seriously disturbed the equanimity of the Spanish 
colonial authorities. They sent a ship in his wake to find 
out what he had achieved, and, the vessel being ably com- 
manded, they were enabled to conduct some valuable re- 
search work themselves — notwithstanding the fact that 
the actual and inquisitive object of the voyage was a far 
less lofty one! 

This will show how little the views of the grandees 
had altered since the days when Hakluyt had occasion 
to write: ''Whoever is conversant in reading the Por- 
tugall and Spanish writers of the East and West Indies, 
shall conamonly finde that they account all other nations 
for pirats, rovers and theeves, which visite any heathen 
coast that they have once sayled by or looked on. ' ' 

A curious instance of the length to which colonial au- 
thorities carried the policy of the seclusion of the colo- 
nies was afforded by the discovery after the capture of 
Lima by the patriots of a state paper referring to the 
visit in the first years of the nineteenth century of a dis- 
tressed American ship from Boston to the Island of Juan 
Fernandez. The unfortunate vessel had been badly dam- 
aged by a storm, and had run short of water and fire- 
wood. It appeared that, carried away by a criminal 
access of hospitality, the governor of Juan Fernandez 
had permitted the distressed crew to repair damages, 
take in wood and water, and sail away! Here was a 
pretty kettle of fish ! And the Viceroy immediately .thun- 
dered a message upon the erring governor, as he re- 
ported in the state paper : 

''In my answer to the governor I expressed my dis- 
pleasure for the bad service which he had rendered to 
the King, in allowing the strange ship to leave the port, 



136 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

instead of taking possession of both her and the crew. 
... I expressed my surprise, that the governor of an 
island should not know that every strange vessel which 
anchors in these seas, without a licence from our Court, 
ought to be treated as an enemy, even though the nation 
to which she belonged should be an ally of Spain. . . . 
and I gave orders, that if the ship should appear again, 
she should immediately be seized and the crew impris- 
oned. . . . Finally, I desired a complete statement of the 
whole affair to be transmitted to his Majesty." 

The document speaks for itself. The only thing it does 
not leave quite clear is how many sleepless nights his 
Majesty suffered on account of this wicked Boston ship ! 

In any case it is sufficiently remarkable that a policy 
of this sort should have been able to continue as late as 
the opening of the nineteenth century. 

Before quitting this subject of ships we may refer to 
a somewhat remarkable meeting of saints and sinners 
which occurred at the very end of the eighteenth century 
in the pleasant town of Montevideo on the banks of the 
river Plate. The contracting parties were the missionar- 
ies from the missionary ship Dujf and the convicts from 
the convict ship Lady Shore. It was by a curious coin- 
cidence that they should both have arrived at Mon- 
tevideo, since that place was not the destination of either 
company, the Dujf being bound for the South Sea Islands, 
and the Lady Shore for Botany Bay. The manner of 
the arrival of both, too, was sufficiently adventurous. 
The Buff was captured by French privateers off Mon- 
tevideo, and the unfortunate missionaries, after suffer- 
ing many hardships, were finally ejected with a total 
want of consideration on to the Montevidean shore. 
The convicts had reversed this process. They had done 
their own capturing, having first mutinied and killed a 
number of their guards, and had managed to bring the 
Lady Shore into Montevideo, at which port they disem- 
barked. 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 137 

It was a remarkable fate which brought these two sets 
of people together on the Uruguayan coast. Probably no 
two communities in the world could have differed more 
widely. Never, claimed the superintendent of the Buff, 
had missionaries set out under such special divine pro- 
tection as those of the Buff, and never before had such a 
continuous volume of hymns risen up from the deck of 
a ship. In the dark and noisome cells of the Lady Shore 
there had been oaths and deep curses, and the blasphemies 
grew wilder and hoarser as the vessel staggered to a 
tempest, or glowed motionless in the stagnant tropics. 

What a heaven-sent opportunity for the missionaries ! 
I hope, and believe, that there are few members of the 
South American Missionary Society to-day who would 
not have leaped at it. Here were one hundred and nine- 
teen males and females in the direst spiritual need, cast 
up, as it were, at their very door. They should have felt 
like a husbandman, whose wheat had walked into his barn 
of its own miraculous accord ! But they did not. 

"We denied them the privilege of visiting us,'' explains 
Gregory, one of the missionaries, *' which they were at 
first very forward to do; but Dr. Sumer and I, giving 
them information that they were prohibited from hold- 
ing any conversation with our females, we received some 
abrupt answers, and they departed. ' ' 

They were a very smug set of missionaries, these 
worthy men of the Buff, and for my own part I have little 
doubt but that their less sanctimonious friends at home 
must have afforded every facility and financial subsidy 
which would encourage them to continue their labor in 
the most remote South Sea Islands ! 

As to the convicts, there is ample evidence that some of 
the women among them gave themselves up with devotion 
to the tending of the wounded in the British expedition to 
the Eio de la Plata which occurred less than ten years 
afterwards, and thus earned the deep gratitude of the 
troops. 



138 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

At this period the unceasing energies of the British 
navy made matters far more uncomfortable for the Span- 
iards from time to time on the Pacific coast than would 
appear from any general history. A very salient instance 
of this is afforded by the voyage of H.M.S. Cornwallis, 
which sailed from Madras for the west coast of South 
America on the 9th of February, 1807, and proceeded by 
way of New Holland, Van Diemen's Land, New Zealand, 
and Chatham Island. It is worth while culling somewhat 
extensive extracts from a journal kept on board, since 
they are unusually eventful, and instructive concerning 
the episodes of such a cruise. They are as follows : 

** June 14th, at noon, stood towards Masafuero, but no 
appearance of any sealers on it. Captain Johnston re- 
solved to ascertain if it was in possession of the Span- 
iards, as had been reported at Port Jackson. At 5 p.m. 
the boat returned, having found only two American 
sealers, who had been on the island about nine months, 
and had seen but five sail during that time. ... at 6 p.m. 
made sail for Juan Fernandez, in expectation of meeting 
some of the enemy's cruisers. 

' ' June 16. Stood into Cumberland bay, but not a vessel 
or even a boat to be seen. . . . 

* ' June 18th. While both officers and men were indulg- 
ing themselves in golden dreams, an incident occurred 
which threatened to involve the whole in one general de- 
struction. It seems that the gunner had deposited a 
quantity of blank musket-cartridges in his store-room, on 
the preceding day, after exercise, instead of returning 
them to the magazine . . . one of the crew, while fitting 
a flint, snapped his lock, when the whole exploded with a 
horrible crash. Several of the ship's company were 
killed, and many dreadfully burnt; the fore cockpit 
was set on fire, and the decks forced up ... in 20 min- 
utes, however, by great exertions, the ship was half 
water-logged, and by 9 p.m. the fire was totally extin- 
guished." 



EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH VOYAGES 139 

After a fruitless visit to Valparaiso and Coquimbo we 
arrive at the entry : 

^' June 27tli, anchored in Gnasco Bay, under American 
colors ; armed the boats, and sent them with a division of 
small-arm men, under Lieutenant Barber, to procure cat- 
tle from the inhabitants. . . . Finding by the report of 
Lieutenant Barber that water might be obtained ... we 
succeeded in obtaining 30 tons; but unfortunately lost a 
very promising young officer, Lieutenant Robson, who was 
drowned in the surf whilst attempting to swim a line 
ashore from the launch. 

''July 2nd, the inhabitants having taken away two 
empty butts during the absence of the watering party, 
and Lieutenant Barber having informed Captain John- 
ston that a quantity of copper was deposited near the 
beach, and guarded by some horsemen, an armed party 
proceeded to seize it, by way of retaliation. Having 
brought off 31 pigs, weighing 6,000 lbs., and secured two 
Spanish soldiers, we weighed and made sail to the north- 
ward. 

''July 8th, a small vessel from Arica was captured by 
the jolly-boat near Iquique, an island on the coast of 
Peru. From her, and two brigs which we took about the 
same time, a few hogs and some refreshments were ob- 
tained, which proved of great service, as the officers and 
ship's company had been on two-thirds allowance of all 
species, except spirits, ever since our departure from 
Port Jackson." 

After this the Journal deals with a lengthy series of 
captures, one of which seems to have occurred on every 
third or fourth day. Among these was the Atlantic, of 
300 tons, formerly an English whaler, but now armed as 
a Spanish government vessel — a capture, this, that was an 
act of retributive justice ! 

One of the last entries of importance on the South 
American coast is : 

' ' Aug. 15th, Captain Johnston wrote to the Governor of 



140 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Guayaquil, informing him that he had liberated the 72 
officers and men belonging to the prize gim-vessels, on 
their parole; also allowed 340 subjects of Spain to go on 
shore at different times since his arrival in the South 
Seas, and requesting that the total number might be car- 
ried to the general account whenever an exchange of pris- 
oners should be agreed upon between the two nations." 

All of which demonstrates a comfortable and trusting 
method of waging war which redounds not a little to the 
credit of both sides ! 

From the hygienic point of view, too, there is no doubt 
that such a cruise was a vast improvement on the West 
Indian naval station, where, in those days fever and dis- 
ease was only too rife. It was Nelson himself, I believe, 
who, when a youngster, served in the Hinchinbrooke fri- 
gate off the Mosquito coast, and who, at the end of six 
weeks, made one of the twenty-seven officers and men, who 
alone survived out of a complement of two hundred and 
thirty-five ! 



CHAPTER Vn 

THE BKITISH EXPEDITION TO THE RIVER PLATE 

Plan of the expedition — Questions concerning the political situation in 
Spanish South America — Miranda's work in Europe — Some misconcep- 
tions on the part of the British — Previous plans for sending British 
forces to South America — The expedition to South Africa — Details of 
the voyage — After the capture of Cape Town, Admiral Sir Home Pop- 
ham sails on his own initiative for the river Plate — When off the 
mouth of the river, a schooner is captured bearing a Scotsman in the 
Spanish pilot service — Assistance given by Russel — His reward — A gal- 
lant feat of arms ends in the capture of Buenos Aires — Conduct of the 
Viceroy Sobremonte — Major Gillespie's account of the entry of the 
British army into Buenos Aires — ^Varieties of fellow-countrymen found 
there — The convicts of the Jane Shore — Improved material and moral 
standing of these — Strategies employed to conceal the weakness of the 
British garrison — Eecapture of the city by the South American forces 
— Curious feature of the action — The capture of the Justinia by cavalry 
and boats — Admiral Stirling arrives in the river Plate with reinforce- 
ments — Capture of Montevideo — Landing of numerous British traders 
— The "Southern Cross Gazette" — General Whitelocke's army — The ad- 
vance on Buenos Aires — An utterly incompetent commander-in-chief — 
British troops sent to certain slaughter into the streets — Capitulation 
of the expedition — Political objects directly and indirectly attained by 
the invasion — A minor result in England of the undertaking — Some 
records of the prisoners of General Beresford's army who remained in 
South America — El Guapo Beresfdr — ^An experience of the authors — 
The outcome of a day's shooting in Misiones. 

THERE can be no doubt whatever that a consider- 
able amount of misapprehension attended the 
despatch of the British expedition to the river 
Plate. It is a tragic commonplace of our wars that the 
services of the Intelligence Department have seldom kept 
pace with the deeds of the soldiers in the field. 

In 1805 it is certain that information had blundered 
concerning the attitude and ambitions of the colonists of 
Spanish South America. But on this occasion there was 

141 



142 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

more excuse than usual for a blunder of the kind. For 
years, the South American patriot, General Miranda, had 
been working with an unceasing ardor in London and 
Paris, imploring military assistance to fling off the bur- 
den of Spanish rule, and promising the enthusiastic co- 
operation of the South Americans. Undoubtedly here 
again the deep-rooted European ignorance of South 
American affairs played its part. Miranda was speaking 
for the North of the continent, for Central America, and 
for Mexico. He held no proxy from the Argentines and 
from the South. 

Much of the affair was concerned with mistaken ideas 
as to bunting ! The British proposed to offer the South 
Americans the Union Jack in the place of the yellow and 
red of Spain. But the South Americans, although anx- 
ious enough to fight by the side of the Union Jack, had 
other ideas. They had it in mind to toss up the old Span- 
ish flag and to let it explode in mid-air like a rocket, when 
it should send out quite new stars and brand-new patterns 
of colors, which should be the property of the South 
Americans alone. But even the South Americans them- 
selves were sufficiently vague as to the details of their 
future. 

It was only known in England that the discontent in 
the South was growing, and this was not the first occasion 
on which a proposal had been broached to send a British 
expedition to South America. In 1793 an expedition had 
actually come to a rendezvous at the island of Saint Hel- 
ena, but the enterprise was abandoned at the last moment. 
Addington is said to have had a scheme of the kind in 
mind in 1801, and in 1804 Pitt in conjunction with Lord 
Melville had actually provided a force, under Sir Home 
Popham, to sail with Miranda to the banks of the Orinoco 
River and to raise in South America the flag of revolt. 
The unfavorable military and naval situation which pre- 
vailed at the beginning of 1805 was alone responsible for 
the stoppage of the plan. 



BRITISH EXPEDITION TO RIVER PLATE 143 

When Sir Home Popham, the organizer of the expedi- 
tion, set sail on the last day of August, 1805, with his 
fleet and with a convoy of fourteen Indiamen acting as 
transports for troops, his destination was the Cape of 
Good Hope. The South American scheme was fated not 
to develop until later in the day, and then in an irregular 
fashion ! 

On the way to South Africa, as was usual enough, the 
fleet called at San Salvador — ^now more generally known 
as Bahia — in Brazil. Here provisions were laid in, and 
a member of the expedition explains that ''the two serv- 
ices were furnished here with 66 pipes of sound port, at 
£24 each." 

But almost immediately there arose lament from sailors 
and marines and soldiers. The story of Anson's expedi- 
tion and of half-a-dozen others was repeated. The Portu- 
guese were determined to make hay so long as the sun 
shone on the British vessels in their bay. The prices of 
all things went soaring upwards at a most merciless pace. 
Even the pilot of the port, plunging headlong into the 
commercial fray, opened a grog shop, and before the fleet 
left he had made no less than five thousand dollars profit 
out of the extempore and shrewd venture ! 

A certain amount of trouble occurred too, on account 
of the villainous, and occasionally murderous, habits of 
the local boatmen, who have never enjoyed the best of 
reputations. The humorous side of the picture was in 
part supplied by the Brazilian soldiers, whose cartouche- 
i boxes were found to contain maize instead of ammuni- 
tion ! Finally, to conclude with the events at Bahia, Dr. 
Emmerson, of the medical staff, an excellent musician, 
offered to play the organ at one of the numerous churches. 
After some hesitation the offer was accepted, when Dr. 
Emmerson made the roof ring with ''Britons, Strike 
Home!" "Britannia Rules the Waves!" and "God Save 
the King!" to the open astonishment and admiration of 
the Brazilians, it is said. 



144 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

After this the British fleet sailed for Table Bay; and 
the troops took possession of Cape Town. It was from 
this point that the expedition set sail for the river Plate 
on the 14th of April, 1806. 

It is generally supposed that Sir Home Popham acted 
entirely on his own initiative in thus endeavoring to add 
to the laurels the force had already won. This is possi- 
ble enough, since in any case he was aware of Pitt's pre- 
vious intentions toward South America, and how they 
had been frustrated through no fault of the minister's. 
This may well have encouraged him to an attempt the 
success of which would have marked him as one of the 
great leaders of his age. 

However that may be, the fleet sailed from Table Bay, 
called at St. Helena, and at the beginning of June the 
vessels were creeping in cautiously toward the land, the 
blue of the ocean changing to yellow and brown as they 
entered the mouth of the mighty river. 

Near Montevideo was captured a schooner, which hap- 
pened to have on board one of the Royal Spanish pilots 
of the Rio de la Plata. The appearance and speech of 
this latter were entirely Spanish, and at first he pro- 
fessed to understand not a word of English; but per- 
sistent questioning elicited the fact that there was very 
little of the real Spaniard about him, and he admitted at 
length in his native tongue that he was a Scotsman of the 
name of Russel, who had been residing in Buenos Aires 
for fifteen years= Russel consented to give his services 
to the expedition, and he rendered valuable assistance. 
But I much fear that in after life he must have regretted 
the day he fell in with the British fleet. For after the 
departure of the British army of occupation from South 
America, Russel was imprisoned by the Spaniards for his 
share of the atfair, and when he subsequently made his 
way to England in the hope of obtaining some recom- 
pense he found himself disappointed in his expectations. 
He left his native island again in a bitter frame of mind, 



BRITISH EXPEDITION TO RIVER PLATE 145 

and doubtless drowned his grief in double quantities of 
those strong waters of which, it appears, he was too fond 
for his own good at the best of times. 

The details of this first expedition are simple, but 
sufficiently stirring. That a landing party of under 
seventeen hundred men, all told, should have attempted 
the conquest of a city of more than forty thousand in- 
habitants, surrounded, moreover, by thousands of active 
horsemen in the open country, is sufficiently surprising 
in itself. That it succeeded is a tribute to the daring of 
the soldiers and the fine qualities of those typical British 
sailors who, as the force approached the town in a deluge 
of winter rain, harnessed themselves to the guns, drag- 
ging them through the morasses, and themselves swim- 
ming across the swollen streams that impeded their prog- 
ress from time to time. 

It was a gallant feat in the face of gallant enemies, for, 
had the Viceroy Sobremonte chosen to undertake a spir- 
ited defense of the town, he would have found himself 
valiantly supported, as subsequent events proved. But 
Sobremonte, the Viceroy of Buenos Aires, the keystone of 
the defense, fled incontinently, and exhibited himself as 
a ludicrous and terrified figure that opened the eyes and 
minds of the South Americans for good and all! Un- 
doubtedly some bitter sentiment prevailed in Buenos 
Aires when the inhabitants watched the entry of the ludi- 
crously small force that had surprised the town. The Ar- 
gentine patriot Belgrano has recorded his chagrin as a 
spectator of this, and has also left behind him a striking 
testimonial to ''the brave and honourable Beresford, 
whose valour in this perilous enterprise I admire, and 
shall always admire." 

Major Gillespie, one of the officers of the expedition, has 
an interesting account of many meetings, on the army's 
entry into Buenos Aires, with countryfolk, whose presence 
they had not suspected : 

"The night had not closed before we were accosted by 



146 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

several of our countrymen, over whose individual his- 
tories there hung much obscurity. Some, we were told, 
had been supercargoes, or consignees, who had abused 
their trust, and had thus become everlasting exiles from 
their country and their friends, while others were com- 
posed of both sexes, who by a violation of our laws, had 
been banished from their protection, and whose crimes, 
in a part of them, had been still more deepened in their 
die, as perpetrators of murder. These were some of the 
convicts of the Jane Shore, who had become citizens by 
their religion ; a most essential preliminary in this conti- 
nent, to personal safety and prosperity. As we could not, 
under our circumstances, discriminate their shades of 
guilt, I can only speak of them as a body of unfortunates 
... all of that list, except one dissolute female, were 
settled in decent employs, and doing well, and all of them 
contended in their good offices to us. The partial serv- 
ices of a few towards our distressed soldiers while in 
prison will atone for many weighty sins. ' ' 

Compare these acknowledgments with the cold con- 
tempt poured on the convicts' advances by the mission- 
airies of the Duff! 

It is a curious story, that of the British occupation of 
Buenos Aires. The preservation of individual friend- 
ships between British and Argentines, the strategies em- 
ployed by the garrison to conceal the real weakness of 
their numbers, the gradual gathering and organization of 
the hostile forces outside the city, the passage of the 
Argentine army across the Rio de la Plata, the final as- 
sault and desperate defense which ended in the inevitable 
capitulation of General Beresford's little force — all these 
events formed part of a moving period. 

Argentine historians frankly admit that their General 
Liniers offered Beresford terms of surrender which were 
not afterwards carried out to the full — owing, they claim, 
to the fact that Liniers offered more than lay in his power 
to concede. From his negotiations with this officer 



BRITISH EXPEDITION TO RIVER PLATE 147 

Beresford had reason to suppose that the British force 
would be permitted to return to England. But this was 
not complied with, and he and his men were interned. 

General Beresford and Colonel Pack, assisted by two 
South Americans, and an American of the name of White, 
subsequently escaped to Montevideo. Padilla, one of the 
two South Americans, afterwards assisted in the editing 
of the Spanish edition of the ''Southern Cross," the pub- 
lication established by the British in Montevideo. 

It is, of course, impossible to enter here into the sep- 
arate events of the campaign, but one very curious inci- 
dent must be remarked in the action which resulted in the 
recapture of Buenos Aires by the Argentines. The Jus- 
tinia, a small 26-gun British vessel, had approached very 
near the shore in order to assist in the defense of the city. 
A sudden and extraordinary retreat of the tide — ^which is 
here largely at the mercy of the winds — left her high and 
dry. On this a cloud of South American cavalry galloped 
out over the mud, and captured her. 

It might well be supposed that a feat such as the board- 
ing of a vessel by cavalry was unique. But this is not so. 

There are at least two other instances of craft being 
attacked by cavalry in the Spanish colonies. The first 
occurred in 1799, not on the mainland, but on the north 
shore of the island of Puerto Eico. Some boats from the 
British warship Trent, sighting a Spanish felucca ashore, 
pulled in toward the land to capture her and to endeavor 
to get her afloat. 

As the Trent's barge drew quite near, a strong body of 
Spanish cavalry came pounding down to the shore, and 
formed up on the beach. Then, seeing that the British 
still persisted in the attempt, the barge was actually at- 
tacked by a swarm of troopers who rode straight into 
the sea, and behaved in what the sailors termed a very 
creditable manner, until the Trent's launch, coming up to 
the assistance of the barge, rounded an intervening point 
of land, and perceived what was afoot. The launch then 



148 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

opened fire upon the Spanish cavalry with grape, canister, 
and musketry, when, as the chronicler has it, "they 
scampered off in the greatest confusion, many of the 
horses throwing their riders, to the great amusement of 
every Briton present." 

So this spirited and amphibious action appears to have 
ended in an appropriately jocular fashion! 

The second represents probably the most remarkable 
feat ever accomplished by cavalry against boats. This 
took place in the Northern campaign of the War of Lib- 
eration, and was witnessed by a number of British offi- 
cers in the patriot service. It happened that a flotilla 
of small Spanish gunboats was stationed on the Apure 
Eiver, and was impeding an important march of Bolivar's 
men. One of the most famous of the Northern leaders, 
General Paez, brought three hundred of his lancers up to 
the bank, and spurred his horse into the water, bidding 
his men follow him. In a moment the three hundred 
were swimming toward the gunboats — literally gunboats, 
these, not the large craft which to-day steam under that 
name — flogging the water and shouting in order to scare 
away the Spanish allies in the shape of crocodiles. Spear 
in hand, the men made for the boats, and, leaping from 
their horses' backs over the gunwales, actually suc- 
ceeded in capturing them. 

All this, however, has taken us somewhat far afield from 
the British expedition to the river Plate. 

After Buenos Aires had been recaptured by the Argen- 
tines, and Beresford had been taken prisoner. Sir Home 
Popham remained on the spot, to blockade the mouth of 
the river, and to await the reinforcements which it was 
certain that the news of the capture of Buenos Aires 
would cause to be sent from England. 

This news had created no small stir in London. In- 
deed, the manner of its announcement was designed to 
cause a sensation. A million dollars, the booty taken 
from the Southern city, entered London in wagons, each 



BRITISH EXPEDITION TO RIVER PLATE 149 

of which was drawn by six horses, profusely decorated 
for the occasion. The first of these wagons was covered 
with the royal standard of Spain, which had been cap- 
tured from the fort of Buenos Aires, and flaming banners 
proclaimed the treasure that was thus borne along in tri- 
umph. 

This rather dramatic display aroused all the political 
and commercial interest that could be desired. But it 
was not until after the catastrophe which ended in the 
capitulation of the British Army of Occupation that Ad- 
miral Stirling arrived off the river Plate to take charge 
of the naval operations. He was in command of a fleet 
which conveyed important British reinforcements, at the 
head of which was General Auchmuty. 

The news of the fall of Buenos Aires naturally threw 
the plans of this second expedition out of gear. Mon- 
tevideo was besieged, and after a courageous defense was 
stormed by the British. So prominent a part, be it said, 
did the sailors play in this siege, that the flag-ship, the 
Diadem, was frequently left with only thirty men on 
board! Then on the 10th of May, the frigate Thisbe 
brought out Lieutenant- General Whitelocke to assume the 
post of commander-in-chief. Eather more than a month 
later powerful forces arrived from England, and with 
them came Admiral Murray to take over the command 
of the now formidable British fleet. 

Simultaneously with the forces of war arrived the mes- 
sengers of commerce. Convoyed by the frigates, mer- 
chants and clerks sailed out in shoals, bearing samples of 
bales and beers, cutlery and cloths. To the ten thousand 
or so of the inhabitants of Montevideo, and to the British 
army of occupation, was now added, explains Mr. J. P. 
Robertson, who was present at the time, **two thousand 
merchants, traders, adventurers; and a dubious crew 
which could scarcely pass muster, even under the latter 
designation." Establishing themselves at Montevideo, 
they began to prepare themselves for the commerce which 



150 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

should follow the flag. In the meantime they occupied 
themselves as best they could. They wondered at the 
queer muddy tinge of the waters of the estuary; they 
read the ** Southern Cross" the gazette, printed in Span- 
ish and English, that announced the liberal policy of the 
British to the South Americans ; then they formed them- 
selves into rather awkward volunteer squads and helped 
to garrison Montevideo while Whitelocke and his splendid 
army of eleven thousand picked men sailed up the broad 
stream to carry Buenos Aires by assault. 

The merchants, left behind at Montevideo, waited for 
the message which was to bid them follow in the track of 
the conquering army. It never came. In its place ar- 
rived tidings which were at first received with blank 
amazement and reasonable incredulity. The British 
army, after having been deprived of an opportunity of 
entering the city at the heels of the retreating enemy 
forces, had been sent with fixed bayonets into the streets 
of Buenos Aires, and, unflinchingly obeying the command 
to advance into the obvious death traps, had been shot 
down in heaps by the defenders from the roof-tops ! A 
capitulation had followed, almost as disgraceful to White- 
locke as had been his conduct of the action ! 

Presently it became evident that this news was only too 
true, and that the merchants would have to pack up their 
goods — in preparation for a departure, not for Buenos 
Aires, but for Europe ! Soon enough the fleet returned, 
bearing thousands of officers and men, wounded and 
whole, bitter and enraged, and, still at their head, the 
complacent and crass Whitelocke ! 

The sentiments which animated many of the South 
Americans after the capitulation may be gathered from 
the following extract from a British officer's diary: 

"As for myself, I had not been two hours in Buenos 
Aires, when I was visited by two young gentlemen, sons 
of Signior Terrada, whose kind hospitality I had expe- 
rienced before our departure into the interior, who in- 



BRITISH EXPEDITION TO RIVER PLATE 151 

sisted on my accompanying them and making their house 
my home, while I remained, and they very considerately 
brought a domestic to bear my luggage, which they were 
surprised to find, was reduced to a hand parcel. The 
reception from that family was welcome and liberal, and 
I was happy to learn that the whole were safe and in 
health, although three of them had served in the various 
conflicts that had recently taken place, in defense of their 
city. The expressions of gratitude for British generos- 
ity were made by both parents upon my entering into the 
house, when they intimated that my conductors had been 
taken prisoners, by Sir Samuel Auchmuty on his storming 
the Retiro, and that the treatment they had received 
while they were in that unfortunate situation was noble 
and humane. I can attest the tender delicacy shown by 
every member of their household, and I have reason to 
think that it was uniformly the same in every other, by 
none of them even hinting at the disastrous events which 
had so lately befallen our army, in which young soldiers 
might have been prone to exult, nor was a single topic 
proposed by them, but a few general enquiries concern- 
ing the past, the repetition of some stories, and the urg- 
ing of a disclosure, in what way they could provide for 
my personal comforts through the voyage to Europe, by 
money, cloathing, or necessaries. ' ' 

After this the remains of the unfortunate expedition 
sailed away northwards to the British Isles. In instances 
of individual gallantry and enterprise it had been as fruit- 
ful as any other. It left behind it the corpses of many 
brave men, and much beyond — a new spirit of confidence 
on the part of the colonials, an extraordinary absence of 
bitterness, and a few cannon shot in the tower of San 
Domingo church, which became an institution in them- 
selves, and which — when in course of time they fell out 
— ^were replaced by dummies of wood, carefully painted ! 

The expedition, moreover, had exhibited the sterling 
qualities of Generals Beresford, Auchmuty, Crauford, 



152 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

and numerous other senior officers. But the force of all 
this courage and resource had been completely neutral- 
ized by the conduct of a commander-in-chief, whose sole 
claim to distinction appears to have been interest in high 
places, and whose subsequent ignominious dismissal from 
the army was itself considered by many as too light a 
sentence. 

Reverting to the political significance of this expedi- 
tion, it may be said to have been threefold, including : the 
desire to place the river Plate provinces under the British 
flag, that of assisting the South American colonials, and 
that of embarrassing the Spaniards. As the irony of 
fate would have it, although the British failed in the 
first, they succeeded — completely if indirectly — in the 
second and third. For it was the British invasion that, 
exposing the weakness of Spain and the powerful re- 
sources of the colonials, assisted materially in bringing 
about the revolution, and the independence of Spanish 
South America. 

The full moral effects of the expedition became clear a 
few years later, when the influence which General Crau- 
f ord had exercised over the enlightened Argentine patriot 
Belgrano bore fruit, and materialized as one of the fac- 
tors in the founding of the new nation. 

Bartolome Mitre has it that the British, ''having sur- 
rendered, as prisoners conquered all hearts to their ideas, 
implanting in them the fertile germs of independence and 
liberty." 

Here is a note by Hadfield : 

''The late Lord Holland, in his posthumous 'Memoirs 
of the Whig Party during My Time' . . . has a very 
singular chapter on the secret history of these expedi- 
tions. His lordship, who was a member of the Cabinet at 
the time, says that Whitelocke's was but one of a series 
of South American expeditions, and that it was originally 
destined for Valparaiso. It was fortunately 'detained 
by subsequent events in Buenos Aires, and the worst part 



BRITISH EXPEDITION TO RIVER PLATE 153 

of our plan was thus concealed from the knowledge, and 
escaped the censure, of the public' Had the then Min- 
ister, Lord Grenville, remained in office, he would have 
sent against Mexico Sir Arthur Wellesley, who, in that 
case, might probably have never become Duke of Welling-- 
ton." 

What tiny straws suffice to show which way blow the 
ironical winds of fate ! The ordinary student learns very 
little from the average history book concerning this dream 
of a wider dominion that was all but realized, yet at the 
time the idea appears to have sunk in deeply enough. As 
early as January 1, 1807, a little book of selected Spanish 
prose appeared, concerning which the editor remarks in 
the preface: **The numbers that will doubtless hasten 
to the Spanish Colonies in the hope of future fame, or 
of future wealth, will soon find it essentially neces- 
sary to have a previous knowledge of the language, man- 
ners, and customs, by which these Colonies are distin- 
guished. ' ' 

These were words of wisdom, and the precaution was 
admirable. But the editor had overlooked one contin- 
gency. By the time the second edition had appeared the 
colonies had ceased to be! 

Of those prisoners of General Beresford's army who 
remained in the Northern provinces of Argentina only 
the scantiest records are extant. But traces of them crop 
up now and then. Some ten years later, for instance. 
General Miller on his way through Santiago del Estero 
was a guest of the governor of that province, who as- 
sured him that he entertained a strong liking toward Eng- 
lishmen, adding that in his escort were two soldiers, once 
in the British army, who rode like Gauchos, but had a 
weakness for the bottle. 

On this occasion, too, Miller was besieged with inquir- 
ies concerning the later career of the general they termed 
the handsome Beresford — el guapo Beresfor — for whom 
they appear to have entertained the greatest esteem. 



154 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

One and all were emphatic in their assertion that it was 
he who first taught them to be soldiers. 

Mr. J. P. Robertson, too, mentions having met in Para- 
guay with an old Scottish sergeant of Beresford's army, 
who had almost forgotten his own language, and at the 
same time had only acquired a smattering Spanish and 
Guarani! There are, moreover, numerous other in- 
stances of the kind. 

Even to this day some curious links with the past flash 
out now and again in the Northern provinces of Ar- 
gentina. I myself have been confronted with one or two 
in the most expected fashion. On one occasion, for in- 
stance, when shooting in the province of Missiones on the 
borders of Paraguay, I was accompanied by an elderly 
peon, who, for a Gaucho, possessed a remarkably philo- 
sophical turn of mind. 

I have commented on this peon in another place, but he 
is worthy of the repetition of a few lines here. Shoot- 
ing, he held, was all very well. Birds were good for the 
digestion, and they were provided for that purpose. But 
when the game was of another kind — ^when men shot 
their neighbors — it was a pity. He shook his head in 
grave reproach, for he was a remarkable peon. There 
had been too much of that in the past, he said. Now that 
the railway had come, it would be different. After this 
he branched off into some quite minor details of natural 
history, about which the average Gaucho very seldom 
troubles himself. 

I found out subsequently that his name was Stuart, 
a discovery that let in a flood of light on his personality, 
and that sent a picture of a remote red-coated ancestor 
to the mind. May it not savor of complacent pedantry if 
I quote here the sentiments which this unusual Gaucho 
inspired at the time ! 

**It seemed to me, now that I knew it, that faint symp- 
toms of the origin had showed in the man's thoughts and 
natural bent. The love of nature for its own sake, the 



BRITISH EXPEDITION TO RIVER PLATE 155 

curiosity as to causes and results, the welcoming of peace 
and order, the unusual sense of comradeship that his 
presence engendered — it seemed to me now that I could 
read in these some remnants of the instinct bequeathed 
by an ancestor of whom all physical traces had been lost. 
''He has not a few counterparts throughout the land; 
their features grown as dusky as his, sunk into the ruck 
of humblest humanity, and knowing no other life but 
that of their fellows. Poor Stuart! Such is the ob- 
vious pitiful comment — ^possibly misapplied. There is 
no law in happiness, after all. His life may be at least 
as contented as that of his superiors — the equals of his 
ancestor." 



CHAPTER VIII 

BRITISH GUIANA AND THE FALKLAND ISLANDS 

The pioneers of Guiana — Sir Walter Raleigh's opinion of the country — His 
suggestions for its colonization — Guiana from the modern point of view 
— Its agricultural and pastoral industries — Wars of the British, 
French, and Dutch — Complications of the struggle — Bush Negroes — 
Danger of these armed bands — Warfare between the blacks and the 
planters — Occasional triumph of the former — Further struggles of the 
European powers — War with the United States — The emancipation of 
slaves — Popular excitement attending this action — Humane but hasty 
procedure — Questions affecting the labor of the colony — Life in Guiana 
— Some naval records — An incident connected with a notorious duellist 
— The Falkland Islands — Early neglect — Attempts at colonization — 
Captain McBride's opinion of the islands in 1776 — A depressing de- 
scription — Occupation by a Buenos Aires garrison — The battle of the 
Falkland Islands — Sentimental importance now attaching to the 
colony. 

AS these pages are designed to show the work of 
the British in Iberian South America and not 
within the bounds of the British Empire, any be- 
yond a scanty reference to British Guiana and to the 
Falkland Islands would be out of place. 

The early days of Guiana are associated not only with 
the voyages of Sir Walter Raleigh, but also with the bold 
colonizing attempts in 1604 and 1609 respectively of 
Charles Leigh, Robert Harcourt, Roger North, and John 
Christmas. Indeed, the number of voyages which the 
English undertook to this northeastern shoulder of the 
continent in the early seventeenth century is not a little 
remarkable. 

Raleigh, filled with enthusiasm for Guiana, had boldly 
claimed for it that : ' * Those commanders and chief taines 
that shoot at honor and abundance, shall finde there 
more rich and beautiful cities, more temples adorned with 

156 



BRITISH GUIANA 157 

golden images, more sepulclires filled with treasure, than 
either Cortez found in Mexico, or Pizarro in Peru: and 
the shining glory of this conquest will eclipse all those 
so f arre extended beames of the Spanish nation. ' ' 

*'Her Majestie may in these enterprize," he suggests 
further, ''employ all those souldiers and gentlemen that 
are younger brethren, and all Captaines and Chieftaines 
that want employment . . . after the first or second 
yeere I doubt not but to see in London a Contractation 
house of more receipt for Guiana, than there is now in 
Sivill for the West Indies." 

It soon became evident, however, that the hoards of 
wealth, which were reported to be glittering in such un- 
heard of quantities somewhere among the forests inland, 
were not to be lightly won : though the fable of El Dorado 
persisted for many generations. In the meantime, since 
a more practical foundation was necessary for settle- 
ments, a process occurred such as has often been brought 
about before and since. The brilliant hopes of diamonds 
and gold yielded to the more strenuous certainties of agri- 
culture — in this case sugar and tobacco. 

Companies and private persons took up plantations; 
cattle were introduced in fairly important numbers ; com- 
munications were more regularly opened up with the 
West Indies, and under Captain Marshall and some others 
considerable progress was made toward prosperity. 

In the meantime the disturbed state of England was 
responsible for the arrival in Guiana of many immigrants 
hailing from both the Cavalier and Eoundhead ranks. 

In the latter half of the seventeenth century began that 
wearying and complicated series of wars by which in the 
end the fruits of so much labor was lost by British, 
French, and Dutch. 

It is impossible here even to attempt to go through the 
intricate lengths of the struggles which must have seemed 
interminable to the harassed colonists of those days. In 
the course of the conflicts England fought Holland, then 



158 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the English and French fought Holland; after this the 
English and Dutch fought France, and after a consider- 
able time the French and the Dutch fought England ! 

This will give a broad outline of some of the chief 
ramifications of the wars which laid waste the Guiana 
plantations. In the intervals, when peace reigned be- 
tween the three nations, and when there might have been 
some hope of the agricultural restoration of the country, 
a new and serious danger arose in the roving bodies of 
bush Negroes. The number of African slaves who had 
succeeded in making their escape into the forests in the 
confusion attending the various invasions increased until 
their pressure became a grave threat. Armed bands of 
these Negroes took to lurking continually on the outskirts 
of the plantations, raiding, murdering, and burning when- 
ever the opportunity arose. As the attempts of these 
bush Negroes grew bolder, the domestic slaves would fre- 
quently revolt and join their wild ranks. To the terrible 
punishments meted out to them when captured the Ne- 
groes retaliated in their own gruesome fashion, and after 
a time a regular war broke out between the blacks and 
the planters, and on more than one occasion the latter, 
together with some regular soldiers, were driven to the 
coast before a stand could be made. On one occasion, 
indeed, in 1763, the neighboring Dutch colony of Berbice 
had to be entirely abandoned for a time, owing to the 
triumphant onsweep of the victorious Africans. 

In 1780, England was face to face in Guiana with the 
hostile powers of France, Holland, and Spain, but the 
end of many confused operations found the island power 
with more territory than she had possessed at the be- 
ginning. The war with the United States in 1812, how- 
ever, brought down a hornets' nest of American priva- 
teers on the coast. 

The emancipation of slaves, which occurred in 1834, 
was attended by much popular excitement, and the re- 
sentment of the plantation owners at the loss of the labor 



BRITISH GUIANA 159 

on which they depended for the working of their fields 
seemed in one sense to be justified by the behavior of the 
blacks, who rose in insurrection, and were not put down 
until many wild scenes had been enacted. 

It was a great and humane work, the freeing of the 
Negro Guiana slaves. But it seems possible to hasten 
even toward good deeds at too great a pace. A more pro- 
longed process of emancipation than the four years al- 
lowed for the knocking off of the perfectly unjustifiable 
fetters would almost certainly in the end have benefited 
not only the financial standing of the plantations but the 
subsequent condition of the slaves. 

As it was, the feckless African flung up his industrial 
mission at the first opportunity, and the chaotic labor 
situation of the colony was only remedied by the intro- 
duction of workers from the East Indies, China, and, 
rather curiously, Madeira, from the humanity of which 
diminutive island some of the earliest of the Brazilian 
settlements had been formed. But these, let if be said, 
are by no means the only sources from which the labor 
of modern British Guiana is drawn, for its cosmopolitan 
population is now, in its own way, one of the most re- 
markable in the world. 

All that need be said about British Guiana in this place 
is that it stands apart from the rest of the continent as a 
British possession, and, for this reason, breathes out the 
atmosphere of the West Indies rather than that of the 
mainland. 

Those who visit Guiana may know at once that it is a 
British colony not only from the speech of the inhabi- 
tants, but from the type of buildings and the manner in 
which the streets of the towns are laid out. In such re- 
spects there is little doubt but that the Briton — ^notwith- 
standing that the hub of his empire is in the foggy 
North — understands from an old-standing and world- 
wide experience better than any other nation how to 
adapt his habits and homes to the tropics. 



160 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

The old naval records concerning Guiana abound in 
incidents that savor of Marryat. The easy-going colo- 
nial existence evoked a conviviality that in turn gave 
birth to cocktails, and similar inventions upon which the 
tropical thirst might prey. All this was responsible for 
a certain hospitable recklessness which nothing but the 
modern god of Moderation has tended to diminish ! 

Although the more important circumstances of British 
Guiana do not enter into this book, we may deal with a 
chance incident which is not without interest. Life in 
the colony in the first years of the nineteenth century 
seems to have been unpleasantly enlivened by the pres- 
ence of a notorious duelist of the name of Blair, who, 
a dead shot, haunted that British possession as well 
as the West Indies, marking down his victims and kill- 
ing his men. One of the incidents of this man's career 
is suggestive of the pages not only of Marryat but of 
Lever. 

It occurred when the officers of his Majesty's sloop-of- 
war Pheasant were dining ashore at the house of a Mr. 
Maxwell, a resident of Bridgetown. After dinner Blair 
unexpectedly put in an appearance. Without a doubt this 
sinister person had already worked out hi$ plan, for al- 
most immediately he began to tell the Bfitish officers in 
a most insulting fashion of a French privateer then fitting 
out at Guadeloupe which, he asserted offensively, would 
drive any British sloop-of-war from the station ! For a 
time the British officers kept silence, out of respect for 
their mortified host. This did not fit in with Blair's pro- 
gram, and the professional duelist continued his aggres- 
sions, until Captain Robert Henderson told him, quite 
briefly, that, unless he ceased, he would throw him out 
of the window. On this Blair left abruptly, and in a 
few minutes arrived his invitation to come out and be 
shot. Henderson, as the challenged, had the choice of 
weapons. He chose pistols: distance, across a handker- 
chief, the antagonists to be foot to foot! When he and 



BRITISH GUIANA 161 

his second arrived on the ground, it was, and remained, 
undarkened by the shadow of the bully ! 

The blow to Blair's prestige must have been consider- 
able. Had he lived in a work of fiction he would have 
sunk at one full swoop, and would have been put out of 
harm's way forever. Alas for the injustices of mere 
fact ! This was not so. Blair appears to have lost little 
time in learning to ruffle his feathers again, for he suc- 
ceeded in sending a bullet through many a better than 
he after that, his last victim being an officer of high rank 
at Demerara. 

The Falkland Islands are supposed to have been sighted 
by Davis in 1592 and more closely visited by Eichard 
Hawkins in 1594. The name which the latter gave to 
them, Hawkins' Maidenland, was only in accordance with 
the spirit of the age which devoted itself to bringing 
bouquets of nomenclature to the virgin queen. But this 
effort of brave old Richard's savors of a more daring 
tenderness than the majority. 

The first regular British colony, founded in 1766, was 
ejected in 1770 by a powerful Spanish force after the 
exchange of a few cannon shot, sent to and fro for the 
sake of appearances rather than for anything else, since 
the British were in no position to offer an effective re- 
sistance. The following year, however, they were re- 
stored by Spain to England. 

There were some attempts to colonize the islands in 
1774 and in 1776. In the latter year Captain McBride 
rendered a depressing account of them. He says : 

''We found a mass of islands and broken lands, of 
which the soil was nothing but a bog, with no better pros- 
pect than that of barren mountains, beaten by storms al- 
most perpetual. Yet this is summer; and if the winds 
of winter hold their natural proportion, those who lie but 
two cables length from the shore, must pass weeks with- 
out any communication with it. ' ' 

As a matter of fact, this description was very far from 



162 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

doing justice to the island, which, notwithstanding its 
rather desolate situation, has proved itself an admirable 
center for sheep-raising. 

In 1820 a Buenos Aires frigate visited the Falkland 
Islands. She was commanded by a Mr. Jewitt, whose 
title appears to have been ''Colonel of the Marine of 
the United Provinces of South America." He formally 
took possession of the islands in the name of the Patriot 
Government of Buenos Aires, and it is on this account 
that Argentina argues the irregularity of our tenure of 
the islands. There is no doubt, as a matter of fact, that 
the Buenos Aires Government did hold possession of 
these islands for a time, for when H.M. sloop Clio visited 
them in 1833 a garrison of twenty-five Buenos Aires 
troops were found at the spot, as well as some settlers, 
who retired in company with the garrison. 

Some time after this the group was given the dubious 
state of a penal settlement, but in 1852 this establishment 
was done away with, and soon afterwards the beginning 
of the present prosperity of the island began to set in. 

These islands, of course, have recently attained to a 
sentimental importance in history such as they never be- 
fore possessed; for it was the naval battle of the Falk- 
land Islands that avenged the destruction of Admiral 
Craddock's squadron and vindicated the supremacy of 
the white ensign, that was never more glorious than when 
it sank, unconquered beneath the waves of the Pacific. 



CHAPTEE IX 

BRITISH FIGHTEES IN THE CAUSE OF SOUTH AMERICAN 
INDEPENDENCE 

(i) 

Attitude of the British Government — Sympathy extended toward the South 
Americans — Visions of state — Docxunent drawn up by the South Ameri- 
cans — 'Some striking clauses — Instances of Latin foresight — Alliances 
and the Panama Canal as viewed at the beginning of the nineteenth cen- 
tury — ^Procedure of the United States and of Great Britain — ^Miranda 
' and recruiting facilities — An Irish writer in the "Caracas Gazette" — 
The most notable British eye-witnesses of the war — Admiral Coch- 
rane, General Miller, Captain Basil Hall, and an anonymous chronicler 
— Social opportunities enjoyed by these — Bolivar and San Martin — Dif- 
fering circumstances of the Northern and Southern campaigns — War- 
like ethics of the tropics and of the temperate latitudes — Ferocity of 
the Northern campaign — ^Types of leaders — ^The British legion reproved 
for giving quarter — Merciless methods employed by the Spaniards — 
Revenge of the South Americans — Sir George McGregor — Fine perform- 
ances of his volunteers — Colonel English recruits in England — Force 
raised by Major Beamish — ^Death of that officer — Arrival of General 
English with two thousand seasoned British troops — General Devereux 
obtains two thousand men in Ireland — ^Some notable officers — Effects 
of the climate and food on the newcomers — Beef or sugar-cane as ra- 
tions — Sickness and death in the ranks — Lamentable conditions of the 
corps — Creature and climatic pests — Early relations between the Brit- 
ish and South American troops — The British distinguish themselves in 
their first action — Removal of mutual misconceptions — Battle of Boy- 
aca — Prestige of the British legion — Attempted detention of General 
English's force at Trinidad — General Urdineta — Colonel Blossett's duel 
— Contemporary opinion of General English — General Devereux — His 
methods of recruiting — Composition of his force — Arrival of the corps 
in South America — Consequences of a reckless sale of commissions — 
General Devereux lands in South America — Humorous contemporary 
description of his arrival — Father O'Mullin — Incidents at the official 
reception — Devereux's character — His subsequent conduct — Story of 
the Irish legion — Conduct of the British and Irish legions at the battle 
of Carabobo — The two corps are united — Prowess of Captain Rush — 
Death of Captain Chamberlayne — Feat of an Irish officer — "Town 

163 



164 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Taker" — ^The secret treasure-chamber of Barcelona Cathedral — The 
jewels of St. Lawrence — Stories spread by the priests concerning the 
British — A tailed race of cannibals — British sailors in Bolivar's fleet 
— Admiral Brion — An eccentric naval commander-in-chief — His con- 
duct and uniform — Some British naval officers — Bolivar's relations 
with the British troops — Temperament and peculiarities of the Libera- 
tor — His activity and bravery — Abstemious habits — Mrs. English — 
Episode at her ball — Privileges obtained by certain officers. 

EVEN before the actual outbreak of the War of In- 
dependence the sentiments of the British cabinet 
toward the South American patriots were plainly 
of the most friendly nature. Canning was deeply at- 
tached to their cause, and Pitt had more than once been 
on the eve of active intervention, although in 1806 Mr. 
Fox protested that the liberation of South America was 
not part of his government's program. 

Notwithstanding this, the keenest interest was taken by 
the British in the doings of the patriots, both in Europe 
and in South America. Sympathy was extended in the 
most genuine fashion, although it must be admitted that 
some of the anticipations were by no means altogether 
disinterested. There were serious hopes, for instance, 
that the South Americans, once freed from the yoke of 
Spain, might turn to Great Britain, and incorporate them- 
selves in that liberal empire. It was a stupendous dream. 
Had something beyond half measures been taken to ma- 
terialize it — and the sending of an incapable commander 
in charge of a British force is surely a half measure — the 
history of the temperate portions of South America might 
have been different, although, as subsequent events have 
proved, it would not have run so natural and so Latin a 
course. But, so far as the entire continent was con- 
cerned, that is another story altogether, and here un- 
doubtedly the vision was very thin and dim. Captain 
Cochrane has an interesting reference to a document 
which was drawn up on the(^2nd of December, 1797, by 
the representatives of South America. This contained 
various proposals, and was entrusted to the famous 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 165 

South American, Miranda, to place before the British 
cabinet. 

This document was a striking instrument, and it clearly 
proves the intellect and ambitious foresight of those who 
combined to draw it up. One of its early clauses stipu- 
lated that Great Britain should render to the South Amer- 
icans a specified amount of military assistance toward the 
attainment of their independence in return for a payment 
of thirty millions sterling. /X)ther clauses related to a 
commer-cial treaty between Great Britain and South 
America, a connection between the Bank of England and 
those of Lima and Mexico, and a project of alliance be- 
tween the United States and South America. But, in 
the light of the affairs of to-day, the most salient clauses 
concerned a defensive alliance between Great Britain, the 
United States of America, and South America, and the 
opening of the navigation between the Atlantic and Pa- 
cific oceans by cutting across the Isthmus of Panama, and 
the guarantee of its freedom of the British nation ! 

Surely this document needs no comment. They were 
very remarkable men, those Latin Americans who worked 
in the midst of a political chaos for the freedom of their 
continent, and whose genius is slowly revealing itself like 
true ears of corn now that the chaff of a century is blow- 
ing away ! - 

The British Government must have been not a little im- 
pressed by this, for it would appear that in 1798 they 
made an actual offer to provide money and ships, pro- 
viding that the United States would provide ten thou- 
sand troops. The United States avoided a definite reply, 
and the matter, in consequence, fell through. 

There is no doubt that it was a not unusual vacillation 
in the first place, and an altered European political and 
militant situation in the second, that prevented the offi- 
cial participation of the English a few years later. On 
the other hand, every private encouragement was given. 
British ministers in London clapped the visiting South 



166 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Americans on the back ; Miranda was given permission to 
recruit in Trinidad and Barbados, while in England muni- 
tions were made ready, and volunteers prepared them- 
selves for action. 

Curiously enough, too, an Irishman of the name of 
Burke wrote in 1811 a series of stirring articles in the 
''Caracas Gazette," urging the establishment of a free 
constitution for Venezuela. These, one imagines, must 
have been translated from English into the Spanish 
tongue. 

In dealing with the British soldiers and sailors who 
fought on the patriot side on the actual outbreak of the 
war there can be no attempt to catalogue, still less to de- 
scribe, the infinitely numerous deeds and events in which 
they were concerned. The aim of these chapters is 
merely to show what type of men these were, with what 
types of men they were brought into contact, and to ex- 
hibit something of the tragedies and occasional quaint 
humors of the South American campaigns. 

The first cursory study of Admiral Cochrane 's life 
alone would demonstrate the impossibility of dealing with 
the historical side proper of these subjects in anything 
short of bulky volume form. If these notes, therefore, 
appear of an unduly fragmentary nature this must be 
their excuse. 

Of all those British who participated in, or witnessed 
and chronicled, the events of the revolutionary wars in 
the south of the continent, perhaps the most notable from 
the standpoint of their associations and breadth of view 
were Admiral Cochrane, General Miller, and Captain 
Basil Hall. Moreover, the experiences of each of the 
three form the natural complement of those of the other 
two. Admiral Cochrane, as commander-in-chief of the 
patriot Pacific fleet, represented the young South Amer- 
ican navy ; Miller held high command in the patriot land- 
forces, and Captain Basil Hall, as a most able and intelli- 
gent officer in charge of a British warship on the South 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 167 

American coast, had, as a spectator, rare opportunities 
of which he took the fullest advantage. 

Among the most graphic chroniclers of the Northern 
campaign was the British ex-naval ofiQcer who anony- 
mously wrote his ** Recollections of a Service of three 
years in Venezuela and Colombia." 

This may appear as a somewhat arbitrary selection out 
of the multitude of British who distinguished themselves 
to a greater or lesser degree in the patriot cause. But 
very few of the other gallant men possessed, in addition 
to their knowledge of the war, the civil and social expe- 
rience in South America of those I have named. Each 
of these was brought into contact not only with nearly 
every leading figure of the young South American com- 
munities but with the generals of the decaying Spanish 
cause as well. 

Three of these, moreover, obtained a certain insight 
into the politer domestic life of the Pacific coast of that 
day, and each of the three knew the two greatest char- 
acters of the militant revolution — ^the gallant San Mar- 
tin, of the South, reserved and diffident almost to the 
point of shyness in the hours of his greatest victories; 
and the equally brave Bolivar, of the North, self -cen- 
tered and with brilliant virtues slightly tinged with 
theatrical elements, who entered the liberated cities to 
the noise of cannon, the pealing of bells, and the blar- 
ings of brass instruments, and who rejoiced in such 
triumphal processions as that when his carriage was 
drawn by one of the fairest bevies of young girls imagin- 
able dressed in festal white. 

As a matter of fact, these distinctions in the tempera- 
ments of the two greatest South American leaders were 
eminently appropriate to their circumstances. Bolivar 
flamed out as the emotional child of the brilliant tropics. 
San Martin represented the restraint and comparative 
phlegm of the white race of the South. To lead the en- 
tire continent even of to-day, the cooperation of a Bolivar 



168 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

and of a San Martin would be every bit as necessary as 
it was then. 

From the British point of view the campaign of the 
North differed widely in the manner of its conduct from 
that of the South. The British who fought under Bolivar 
amid the tropical plains, streams, mountains, and for- 
ests of Colombia and Venezuela either formed a separate 
corps of their own, or made up the entire complement of 
the officers of an Indian regiment. In the South, on the 
other hand, under San Martin, the British who came out 
to play their part in the War of Independence took serv- 
ice in the ordinary way with such South American regi- 
ments as were already in being. 

In either case the volunteers had committed themselves 
to a sufficiently strenuous life. But, whereas in the South 
the British found themselves surrounded by men with 
whom they had from the start a great deal in common, 
and in the midst of pleasant conditions of nature to which 
they rapidly became accustomed, those others who fought 
in the neighborhood of the Equator found themselves in 
less fortunate case. 

Apart from the circumstances of climate and diet to 
which the British troops took a considerable time to ac- 
custom themselves, the ferocity with which the campaign 
was waged in the North had no parallel in the South. 
The Northern generals were of all sorts and conditions of 
men. There were one or two who possessed an intellect 
almost comparable with that of Bolivar ; though no other 
possessed his genius. There were brave and chivalrous, 
if completely unlettered, guerilla leaders such as Paez. 
But there were many others who rose like dusky foam 
to the top of a critical situation by mere brute force and 
an unscrupulous intrigue of which even the most ignorant 
can be capable. Moreover, since the ordinary Northern 
troops were almost entirely of Indian and Negro blood, 
with a mere sprinkling of white officers, the measures in 
retaliation for the atrocities initiated by the Spaniards 




GENERAL SAN MARTIN 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 169 

were only too thorough. On more than one occasion the 
British legion was officially reproved for not having par- 
ticipated in the slaughter that was decreed by the exigen- 
cies of a war of extermination to follow a victory. 

Certainly nothing could have raised the passions of 
the Northern people more effectually than the Spanish 
methods. That they were not the work of the better class 
Spanish regulars will be evident when the nature of these 
deeds is considered. From the earliest days of the war 
it had been agreed that no quarter should be offered or 
accepted on either side. The massacre of surrendered 
garrisons was, therefore, an affair which was accepted 
as a matter of course. To what lengths this calculated 
policy was carried may be gathered from some sentences 
of an intercepted letter from General Morillo to the king 
of Spain : They refer to the royalist entry into Bogota : 
"Every person, of either sex, who was capable of read- 
ing and writing, was put to death. By thus cutting off 
all who were in any way educated, I hoped to effectually 
arrest the spirit of revolution." 

But there were more terrible methods of repression 
practised even than these. British officers have testi- 
fied to the sight of South American women whose ears 
and noses had been cut off; others had lost their eyes or 
their tongues, while others again had had the soles of 
their feet pared off. It is needless to dig deeper into 
this catalogue of horrors. The South Americans had 
their revenge, and in one place alone a pile of over seven 
thousand dried Spanish skulls bore witness to this ! 

It seems clear, nevertheless that such practices were 
foreign to the true inclinations of the dwellers in the 
Northern States. Captain Cochrane, who entertained a 
high regard for the Colombians, remarked of them: 
* ' They have certainly a desire to adopt Eiiglish manners 
and customs, and give a decided preference to everything 
English. This may be thus accounted for : first, that for 
a long period England was the country that furnished 



170 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

them, through Jamaica (by means of the contraband 
trade) with all the comforts or luxuries of life, and conse- 
quently gave them a relish for everything English, and 
engendered a kindly feeling toward the inhabitants of a 
country which supplied all their wants ; and, secondly, be- 
cause the natural turn of a native Colombian much more 
assimilates with the character of an Englishman than that 
of any other nation in Europe ; for he is reserved, thought- 
ful, and fond of commercial pursuits. Though polite and 
desirous to oblige on first introduction, yet, like an Eng- 
lishman, he requires time, and a knowledge of your char- 
acter, before he becomes intimate, and then you find him 
to be an excellent and valuable friend. ' ' 

The first British troops who seem to have taken part 
in the Northern War of Liberation comprised a small 
body of men brought out by Sir Gregor McGregor. 
These, when they had once accustomed themselves to the 
climate, performed such admirable services that more of 
their kind were in great demand in Colombia. On this 
a gentleman of the name of English, who is said to have 
been in the British commissariat service and who was in 
Colombia at the time, made an agreement with the patriot 
government to raise a new corps in England. Having 
been given the rank of colonel in the Colombian service, 
he departed for this purpose, in which he was eventually 
successful. 

In the meantime a Major Beamish, a retired British 
officer, had busied himself in Ireland in raising a small 
corps for the Colombian service. Entirely of his own 
initiative he got together, armed, and equipped three 
hundred men, and, having purchased a vessel of two hun- 
dred and eighty tons, he set out with them for Colombia. 
As fortune would have it, this enterprising officer died 
suddenly of apoplexy on the voyage; but his contingent 
arrived safely at its destination, on the 28th of August, 
1818, and subsequently played a gallant part in the cam- 
paign. 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 171 

In due course Colonel English, now promoted to the 
rank of general, arrived at the island of Margarita with 
a force of two thousand splendid British troops drawn 
from the Peninsula veterans of the regular army. A 
little later a Mr. Devereux, who was given the rank of 
general in the Colombian army, raised some two thou- 
sand raw recruits in Ireland, and caused these to be 
transported, in unfavorable circumstances, to Colombia. 

Such are the main facts concerning the arrival of the 
British forces. Ma.ny of the officers engaged had dis- 
tinguished themselves in previous campaigns. Some of 
the most prominent of these were Rooke, Ferrier, Mackin- 
tosh, Sir Gregor McGregor, Lyster, Sandes, Pigot, Keen, 
Hamilton, Wilson, Manby, Woodberry, Blossett, Stop- 
ford, Davy; to say nothing of Francis MaQeroni, Murat's 
aide-de-camp, who became an Englishman, and was with 
Sir Gregor McGregor at the capture of Puerto Bello, 
ultimately becoming a general in the Colombian service. 

Having now dealt with these main features, we may 
turn to some of the details of the men and actions. On 
the landing of the first British contingent on Venezuelan 
soil the prospects of the newcomers appeared anything 
but rosy. So abrupt was the change of food and climate 
that the effect of these circumstances was in the first 
place disastrous to the British troops, though for the 
most part these were splendid and war-seasoned men. 

The officers were a fine set, almost entirely obtained 
from the regular British army, who had been attracted 
by the offer of a corresponding rank in the Colombian 
army to that which they held in their own. But the 
health of not even the most seasoned of the veterans of 
the rank and file could withstand the rations which were 
served out to them, and to which the native troops were 
accustomed. These consisted purely and simply of three 
pounds of beef distributed each day — and not a single 
grain of anything beyond, whether in the shape of salt, 
bread, or vegetables! 



172 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

This was the fare to which the soldiers had to accus- 
tom themselves in the grazing country. When in the 
sugar-cane districts, they found that a similar lack of 
variety obtained ; for here a regime of sugar-cane served 
for every meal, although it must be admitted that from 
time to time a few plantains were forthcoming by way 
of special gratification! 

The effects of this extraordinary diet, and of the- 
numerous privations suffered, soon became evident. Dy- 
sentery and other forms of sickness played havoc with 
the ranks of the British. In consequence of this when 
they first attempted to take part in the strenuous marches 
of the patriot forces the results were lamentable. Day 
after day men fell out of the ranks to die by the roadside : 
others were mounted on horses, to the backs of which 
their weak condition only just enabled them to cling. A 
contemporary asserts that the unfortunate corps '*soon 
appeared more like a field hospital than a battalion fit 
for duty in front of an enemy, and served only as a 
laughing stock and ridicule for the other troops, who 
were inured to the climate and bad fare. ' ' 

All this was to say nothing of the insect pests, jiggers, 
thorns which tore the uniforms wholesale from the men's 
backs, and small, fierce fish which bit entire mouthfuls 
from their legs as they forded shallow streams. There 
was the mountain sickness, too, the Soroche, which in the 
loftiest altitudes frequently ended fatally. 

Soldiering in Venezuela and Colombia held many ex- 
periences which were disconcerting to a degree, and here 
the matter was rendered worse by an ignorance of those 
precautions which a tropical climate demands of the new- 
comer. As a result of all this a battalion which had 
landed three hundred and fifty strong could, after two 
or three months, muster no more than one hundred and 
fifty men! And these were sorry-looking specimens of 
humanity, clad in a few rags and tatters. 

Thus, curiously enough, the actual first entry into South 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 173 

America of the British troops who were destined to win 
for themselves so high a reputation there was achieved 
under the most unpromising auspices. Before the es- 
tablishment of the subsequent cordial relationship be- 
tween them and the South Americans, a sentiment of 
mutual depreciation obtained; for in the first place the 
British mistook the sound strategy of the continuous 
patriot retreats for an aversion to meet the enemy. 

This condition of affairs continued until the British 
went into action against the Spaniards for the first time. 
When the engagement was over they had lost a third of 
their number in killed and wounded, their commander, 
Colonel Rooke — a fine officer, who had been aide-de-camp 
to the Prince of Orange at Waterloo — ^being among the 
latter, and subsequently dying of his hurts. Of the re^ 
maining officers, Lieutenant Kaisley was killed, and Lieu- 
tenant M'Manus was wounded. 

But, mauled though it had been, the affair had been a 
triumph for the small British force. Backed by their 
now admiring patriot allies, they had fought their way 
with the bayonet inch by inch uphill, and, together with 
General Paez's cavalry, had with reckless gallantry 
turned a threatening defeat into victory. And it was 
now for the first time that they themselves saw the real 
fighting qualities of the South Americans. The roar of 
battle had drowned the mutual misconceptions for good 
and all. 

**And what do you think of the British now?" asked 
Doctor Foley of Greneral Ansuartagui, who had recently 
taken to an open expression of doubt as to whether these 
Northern troops were even worth their daily three pounds 
of beef. 

"They're worth their weight in gold," confessed the 
General frankly, and from that moment his attitude to- 
ward the British changed as completely as did that of 
his compatriots. 

The battle of Boyaca, which took place on the 7th of 



174 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

August, consolidated the reputation of the British, whose 
ranks had now received some reinforcements. In order 
to make good the numerous casualties suffered it was fre- 
quently found necessary to incorporate South American 
troops in the Albion battalion. In connection with this, 
Captain Cochrane remarks: ''The British had become 
at length such good marchers, that they always formed 
the advance-guard of the army, being now complained of 
as marching too fast, instead of too slow as formerly. 
Such was the esprit de corps, that the very natives in- 
corporated in this battalion thought themselves above the 
other soldiers, and called themselves English, and swore 
in English by way of keeping up their title. ' ' 

As a matter of fact, the British influence at this period 
rapidly permeated all grades of society, and was notice- 
able even in that the Iberian Viva! was superseded for a 
considerable time by Hip ! Hip ! ! Huzzah ! ! ! 

In Colombia too it may be said that the British mer- 
chants showed at least as much enterprise as elsewhere. 
Many of them provided important amounts of warlike 
stores, hoping to be reimbursed when the fall of the city 
of Angostura should endow the patriot coffers with im- 
mense treasure. But Angostura, once captured, proved 
a hollow plum! Loss and disappointment were inevit- 
able in other directions, too, so long as the patriot cause 
had not definitely prevailed, and the fluctuations of war 
continued. 

As a matter of fact, a number of the earliest flight of 
these mercantile swallows who came in person found that 
they had arrived before the true South American sum- 
mer had set in ! Numbers, understanding nothing of the 
climate, died of sickness, while others underwent perils 
of another order. Thus, when the Spanish General 
Morillo recaptured Cartagena, he seized all the British 
and foreign merchants, and would have shot them all, 
but for the interference of the British admiral on the 
West India station. Surely experiences such as these 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 175 

justified a considerable financial profit — which did not 
always materialize. 

When General English arrived in Venezuela he was 
in charge of two thousand troops of as fine a quality as 
had ever left England. Having found himself financially 
unable to cope with his important contract, he had handed 
this over to a Mr. Herring, a prominent London mer- 
chant, who had completed his share of the bargain in a 
most liberal and praiseworthy fashion. At the end of a 
voyage carried out in well-appointed vessels the men 
landed on Venezuelan soil finely uniformed and equipped. 

The voyage had not passed without incident, for at 
Trinidad, the local authorities, at the instance of the gov- 
ernor of the island. Sir Ealph Woodford, had made an 
attempt to detain the expedition. As a result a sea-en- 
counter ensued between some small local vessels and the 
expeditionary ships, assisted by a Venezuelan corvette 
officered and manned by Englishmen, which ended in the 
discomfiture of the former. 

On its landing in Venezuela, General English's force 
appears to have suffered in the same way as the rest 
from the local climate and food. General Urdineta, more- 
over, under whose command they were placed, took very 
little pains to render himself popular with the newcomers, 
and appears to have been cordially disliked. 

It was undoubtedly largely owing to the behavior of 
this general that in the early days of their arrival the 
British troops suffered some slights, and that their re- 
monstrances on the subject of arrears of pay were frig- 
idly received. It was on account of this that Colonel 
Blossett fought a duel with, and wounded, a Venezuelan 
brigadier-general, and thus was one of the first to mani- 
fest a spirit that compelled respect. 

General English himself appears to have faithfully 
carried out all his duties; but he does not seem to have 
possessed the temperament of a born soldier. A con- 
temporary opinion of him was that, ''as an officer he was 



176 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

destitute of energy, and experience ; as a man he was gen- 
erous and open-hearted. All that can be said of him in 
reference to his conduct as commander of the British 
legion is, that he mistook his profession, for which in- 
deed he was physically unfitted." 

The character of Devereux, who raised the chief Irish 
legion, appears to have been rather complex. It is said 
that, the son of an Irishman who suffered the extreme 
penalty of the law for his participation in the Irish re- 
bellion, he began his career in mercantile pursuits in the 
United States. In 1815 he went to Cartagena, and dis- 
cussed with Bolivar the project of raising an Irish legion ; 
but no steps appear to have been taken in this direction 
until General English had succeeded in recruiting his 
formidable force in England. 

On this Devereux returned to Venezuela and secured a 
contract signed by Bolivar. He then proceeded to Dub- 
lin, and, having announced his mission with some pomp, 
he was given a public reception. He met with no dif- 
ficulty in raising recruits, for the cause in which he 
pleaded appealed to the Hibernian element of romance. 
In a very short time he had assembled two thousand men. 
Scarcely any of these, however, had the advantage of 
knowing anything whatever about military life, and as a 
fighting force they represented completely raw material. 

Officers, too, were obtained almost entirely from the 
civilian ranks of the higher classes, although some junior 
officers in the British army parted with their commis- 
sions in order to purchase others in the Venezuelan ser- 
vice. It is said that from the sale of these commissions 
Devereux obtained no less than sixty thousand pounds, 
which he retained for himself. 

Devereux did not accompany this force to South 
America, and, after suffering many privations on the 
voyage, it was landed at the island of Margarita, only to 
have its ranks withered by yellow fever, of which seven 
hundred and fifty men perished in a short time. 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 177 

A species of disillusion other than climatic awaited the 
officers of the unfortunate corps. In his enthusiasm for 
the Venezuelan cause, and for easy coin, Devereux had 
sold no fewer than one hundred and sixteen colonel's 
commissions ! Here, then, were the one hundred and six- 
teen Venezuelan colonels — many of them mere youths — 
arrived on Venezuelan soil, only to discover that their 
new government, ignorant of their commissions, refused 
them their rank, to say nothing of its attendant pay ! It 
was the same with numerous officers of other grades. 
The chagrin and chaos of the raw army can be imagined. 
Many of the disappointed officers, having secured a little 
money by the sale of their personal effects, took passage 
for the "United States, and departed for good. Some 
are even alleged to have died of starvation. 

When General Devereux himself came out to South 
America the ferment had died down, and despair and 
death had already sadly reduced the ranks of the legion. 
Devereux and his self-appointed staff arrived in a char- 
tered coal-brig. The description of this arrival as given 
by the naval author of **Eecollections of a service of 
three years ... in the Eepublics of Venezuela and Col- 
ombia," although it savors a little of bitterness, is worth 
giving here : 

''I went on deck and was saluted by a jolly-looking old 
fellow with a nose of a deep rubicund tint, who was walk- 
ing the deck, and who asked me fifty questions in an in- 
stant. This personage proved to be no other than Father 
'Mullin, an Irish Catholic priest, who had been induced 
to join the retinue of Devereux, at the recommendation 
of the celebrated orator, Mr. Daniel O'Connell (whose 
son accompanied the leader as aide-de-camp) under the 
title of Chaplain to the Irish Legion, and private con- 
fessor to its promoter. Father 'Mullin, with much 
ceremony and circumlocution, informed me that General 
Devereux was on board, and requested me to go below 
into his cabin to see him. ' ' 



178 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

He found the General in despair, presenting a very un- 
military attitude, as he was under the impression that 
the ship had been seized and that he was about to be 
arrested. Having been reassured, he was further com- 
forted by the news that an official reception was being 
prepared for him on the following day. This is our naval 
author's account of what followed: 

''Next morning, at the time appointed, I went again to 
the General, who was far from ready. This arose from 
the time he took to equip himself for the occasion, and 
the total ignorance of himself and suite of the method of 
arranging military appointments, the General and most 
of his staff (as he termed them) never having been at- 
tached to any army. . . . The General's dresses were all 
soldered up in tin cases, that the luster of the lace and 
bullion might not be diminished by the damp during the 
voyage. He was busily engaged in opening them when 
I entered the cabin ... at length all was clear, and we 
beheld a most magnificent French field-marshal's uni- 
form, so bedizened with lace that it seemed as if the 
owner had considered personal appearance of far more 
consequence in a war-of-extermination than discipline or 
strength of numbers. ' ' 

Alas ! On his way to the banquet which had been pre- 
pared Devereux's horse endeavored to roll at the edge 
of a pond, and Devereux's brilliancy lost its first bloom. 
At the banquet itself he found himself in his element; 
for oratory was one of his strongest points, and he now 
found ample opportunity for its display. He spoke for 
nearly two hours, and frequently interrupted the officer 
who translated his words by such expressions as ''Tell 
*em, I '11 destroy every Spaniard in South America ; tell 
'em that!" ''Say, that all Ireland is up in their cause, 
in consequence of my representations; tell 'em that!" 
At last the translator gave up his task with the despair- 
ing remark : ' ' You must wait till you can tell them your- 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 179 

self, General, for I never talked so much before in my 
life." 

Undoubtedly the manner of Deverenx's arrival was on 
a par with much else connected with himself and his un- 
disciplined troops. That this very sudden general was 
an adventurer, there can be no doubt. But that he was 
totally specious, as has been alleged, seems very improb- 
able. What would have been easier for a thoroughgoing 
scoundrel than to have gone off with the money he had 
made from the sale of commissions, and never to have 
sailed to South America at all? 

At a later period, moreover, Devereux showed himself 
capable of actions such as might wipe out a good many 
illicit safes of commissions. When Mrs. English, the 
widow of the General, was grossly insulted by General 
Barino, the then Vice-President of the State, Devereux, 
hotly resenting the attempted ill-treatment of his coun- 
trywoman, called out the villainous high official, with the 
result that he himself suffered a brutal imprisonment for 
forty-seven days, until a public court-martial instantly 
acquitted him. 

Such acts as these plainly show that General Devereux 
must have possessed many good points, and that prob- 
ably one of his worst failings consisted of too fervid an 
imagination ! 

The rest of the story of the Irish legion may be told in 
a few words. The first military feat undertaken by that 
which remained of the corps was the capture of the town 
of Eio de la Hacha. Here, finding a large stock of bever- 
ages and food, they gave up all idea of learning to submit 
to discipline, and took to plunder and excesses. In the 
end a number of them made their way to Kingston in 
the island of Jamaica, where they continued their wild 
conduct, and became a source of considerable trouble to 
the authorities. Of the entire number some three hun- 
dred returned to Ireland, and a hundred and fifty re- 



180 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

mained with the patriot armies, becoming trained into 
excellent soldiers, and eventually being incorporated with 
the British legion. 

Of the various actions in which the British fought, the 
most notable was the decisive battle of Carabobo, which 
took place on the 24th of June, 1821. The strength of 
the corps on this occasion was about six hundred, two 
hundred of its number having been distributed to stiffen 
the ranks of the native battalions. Beyond these were a 
hundred of the Irish legion, and some native troops offi- 
cered by British. 

In the course of this engagement the British, under 
Colonel Mackintosh, and the Irish, led by Colonel Ferrier, 
going to the aid of a patriot battalion which was on the 
point of falling back, swept forward into the midst of the 
Spaniards in an irresistible bayonet charge. In this 
Colonel Ferrier, bearing the regimental colors, fell most 
gallantly at the head of his men. This charge, united to 
a furious onslaught by General Paez's cavalry, restored 
the fortunes of the day, and with this patriot victory died 
the last hope of the Spaniards in the North. 

After the battle the British and Irish legions were 
united, and were distinguished by the name of ' ' The Regi- 
ment of Carabobo." The corps received the thanks 
of Bolivar and of the Colombian Congress — thanks 
that were well earned, as the casualty list showed, 
for the British lost two-thirds of their number in this 
action. 

It is, of course, impossible to enter here into more 
than one or two of the individual feats of the men who 
helped to make a fine record in the British military an- 
nals. Perhaps one of the most salient instances of per- 
sonal prowess was that given by Captain Rush, who in the 
action of the 28th of April slew no less than eleven of the 
enemy with his own hands. 

The tragic death, too, of Captain Chamberlayne, one 
of Bolivar's aides-de-camp, is worthy of more than a 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 181 

passing word. Left with a handful of men to defend 
the city of Cumana against a large Spanish force, he 
held out in the Casa Fuerte in the center of the town until 
the want of provisions combined with an incessant bom- 
bardment made the spot completely untenable. The rem- 
nants of the garrison could resist no longer; but Cham- 
berlayne was determined not to yield himself alive. In 
his company was a very lovely girl from Caracas, to 
whom he was devotedly attached. The girl, whose affec- 
tion was as ardent as his, chose to die with him. 

Chamberlayne placed a pistol to her head, another to 
his own, and it was over the dead bodies of the pair that 
the Spaniards rushed in to massacre the surviving mem- 
bers of the garrison. 

A more cheery topic is that of the jovial and daring 
young Irish officer, who, moved to a mad freak, was re- 
sponsible for a premature capitulation of Caracas. Hav- 
ing privately borrowed three general's uniforms (from 
which it will be obvious that generals were not rare in 
the Northern patriot army!) he dressed himself in one 
of them, and a couple of servants in the other two. 
Then, slipping away from Bolivar's headquarters, he 
rode to Caracas, displayed a flag of truce, and demanded 
of the governor the surrender of the city, on the pretense 
that Bolivar's army had advanced to within three miles 
of the place. The governor, deceived by this bold front, 
capitulated, and the Irish officer rode back in triumph 
to Bolivar, with the document of surrender, sealed and 
signed, in his hand. A comrade of this ingenious offi- 
cer says of him: *'Our Lieutenant acquired by this ad- 
venture the name of 'The towntaker.' He was a brave 
young man, though thoughtless. He rose rapidly in the 
army; but, not long after I left the country, was killed, 
at the recapture of Maracaibo by the royalists." 

The hands of the British were, in general, so free from 
loot during this campaign that the spoil which these 
shared with their South American comrades at the taking 



182 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

of the cathedral of the town of Barcelona must be con- 
sidered as the fruit of a rare lapse. The chief treasure 
was concealed in a secret chamber beneath the altar, and 
the story of its discovery suggests the pages of Edgar 
Allan Poe or Robert Louis Stevenson: *'0n tapping 
round it, we judged by the hollowness of the sound, that 
there was a closet behind it ; and continuing our search, 
we found three spring-bolts rather clumsily attached to 
the frame, upon the touching of which the altar-piece 
flew open, and disclosed a spacious room, filled with boxes 
of various dimensions. Colonel Blossett, who thought 
that this apparent concealment, coupled with other in- 
dications, implied the existence of a hidden treasure, im- 
mediately jumped into the room with such violence that 
myriads of spiders and ^n enormous cloud of dust came 
tumbling about his ears. After shaking himself, to get 
clear of this disagreeable annoyance, he assiduously com- 
menced operations. ... In a niche we also found one of 
the most valuable relics of the place, at least to the 
monks. This was the body of a man of gigantic stature, 
curiously preserved in a case with a glass cover. It wore 
a loose dress of white satin, in the Roman form, and 
round its neck was a golden collar of great weight, set 
with emeralds and pearls, to which was fastened a chain 
of the same metal, each link being elegantly chased. On 
its wrists and ankles were bracelets similar to the collar, 
to each of which the chain was also fixed; and a crown 
adorned its head, whereon its name was enameled at full 
length. This was shown by the priests as the remains of 
St. Lawrence, the patron saint of the city, to whom the 
cathedral was dedicated. To him were all miracles as- 
cribed, and for him, and in his name, were all contribu- 
tions levied.'* 

It appears that the ladies of the town were, justly 
enough, not a little incensed at the spoliation of their 
patron saint. 

''Here!" exclaimed one, **they have stripped poor St. 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 183 

Lawrence, and everybody knows that he was a good old 
soldier ! ' ' 

**Very true," replied an officer, ''but you know that all 
soldiers are liable to lose their baggage in time of war." 

Nevertheless, since it was the British who were re- 
sponsible for the loss of this particular baggage, it is to 
be feared that the act did not render them more popular 
in the eyes of the priests, who from the day of their 
first landing had regarded them with aversion, and who 
had assiduously spread unfavorable reports concerning 
them. They even went the length of instilling into their 
flock theories to the effect that the British were canni- 
bals — cannibals, moreover, whom nature had adorned 
with a tail. It was on this account that, for some time 
after their landing, the officers of the legion noticed so 
many searching glances cast toward their figures, fol- 
lowed by the baffled look of one who fails to see with his 
eyes that which his mind had confidently predicted ! 

It is not generally realized that at one period of the 
War of Independence there were no less than two thou- 
sand British seamen serving in Bolivar's fleet and in the 
river gunboats. These men were frequently utilized in 
land fighting, and made up a most efficient force. 

Certainly none of the merit of such services as they 
performed was to be ascribed to Admiral Brion, the first 
commander of Bolivar's navy. Brion, a native of 
Curagoa, was of Dutch origin, and, until he entered the 
Venezuelan service at the age of forty, he had had no 
experience whatever of naval matters. Indeed, the only 
reason why he attained at one leap to his high com- 
mand was that his wealth had in the first instance en- 
abled him to provide out of his own pocket the squadron 
he commanded! 

Brion seems to have been honestly and enthusiastically 
devoted to the cause. On the other hand, he gave only 
too abundant proofs of his foolishness, pig-headedness, 
and utter incompetence. Brion, in fact, was a crank 



184 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

whose eccentricity verged at times on madness. What 
can be thought, for instance, of a naval commander who, 
when he caught sight of a hostile fleet in a position which 
would have made its defeat easy, contented himself with 
firing a salute of twenty-one guns, and with hoisting a 
demijohn of wine and a live turkey at the yardarms of his 
vessel, and then sheered off! 

The uniform which Brion chose for himself was not of 
the kind to impress naval spectators with the technical 
and sober eflSciency of its wearer. On his own quarter- 
deck he was usually attired in ''an English hussar jacket 
and scarlet pantaloons, with a broad stripe of gold lace 
down each side, a field marshal's uniform hat, with a 
very large Prussian plume, and an enormous pair of 
dragoon boots, with heavy gold spurs of a most incon- 
venient length. ' ' 

Brion invariably displayed a deep prejudice against 
all Europeans, and did his best to thwart the British in 
the Venezuelan service. His command, however, was not 
of long duration. He was succeeded by Padilla, a native 
of Kio de la Hacha, and a brave and practical seaman. 
Among those of the British who distinguished themselves 
in this Venezuelan naval service were Chitty, Bingham, 
Noel, Cobham, and Russel. All these were in command 
of warships of various kinds, but I have named them thus 
curtly, being uncertain as to what precise rank they held 
in a navy that was of necessity of a somewhat improvised 
kind. 

Bolivar's relations with the British troops in general 
were of the most cordial description throughout. The 
Liberator was outspoken in his admiration for the legion, 
and at a banquet would frequently drink reverently to 
the memory of the dead, more especially to that of Rooke, 
whom he had especially esteemed. 

Bolivar's ardent and tropical temperament frequently 
led him into performances of a theatrical nature which 
to the colder Northern mind might easily obscure his real 




GENERAL BOLIVAR 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 185 

generosity and frank good fellowship. If there were 
times when Bolivar loved to pose before his troops in a 
glittering uniform, no one had a better right. Even the 
fainting emotion which he sometimes indulged in the 
face of rapturous public applause was a perfectly harm- 
less weakness. That he was an excellent comrade in 
times of stress has been proved by many Englishmen in 
his service. When Colonel Rooke, for instance, was 
robbed of his baggage on the plains of the Apure, it was 
Bolivar who gave him half his own wardrobe, scanty 
enough though it was on the march. A circumstance, too, 
that won the Liberator the respect of many soldiers was 
that he was a quite unusually good shot, and a fine swim- 
mer. When the circumstances warranted such peaceful 
exercises, moreover, he was noted for the excellence of 
his dancing. 

Another of his ofBcers, Colonel Mackintosh, was em- 
phatic concerning Bolivar's exertions on the march: 
''On the expedition to New Granada in 1819, we had a 
number of rapid mountain torrents to pass : in order to 
cross those which were not fordable, we dragged along 
two small canoes, fastened to the tails of horses, by means 
of which we were sometimes enabled to make a bridge; 
at other times they were used to carry over the troops, 
arms, etc., whilst those soldiers who had learnt the art 
of swimming, swam through the water. Upon all these 
occasions, Bolivar was very active, himself setting the 
example of labor, and frequently working harder than 
any common soldier. On passing rapid rivers where 
there were fords, he was constantly to be seen assisting 
the men over, to prevent their being carried away by the 
force of the torrent ; and carrying on his own horse am- 
munition, arms, and pouches." 

At the battle of Boyaca, Bolivar was clad in a some- 
what overpowering full dress of scarlet and gold. But 
this did not prevent him, his trumpeter by his side con- 
tinually sounding the advance, from plunging at the head 



186 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

of a single squadron of cavalry four leagues in advance 
of his army, by which means he secured a large number 
of prisoners which could have been obtained by no other 
means. 

It may be remarked that this famous South American 
leader, for whom the British fought with genuine en- 
thusiasm, was extremely temperate in his habits, smoking 
very rarely, and never indulging in spirits. The more 
lukewarm among his admirers have asserted that this 
sobriety of his was in a sense obligatory, since a too gen- 
erous allowance of wine was wont to throw him into a 
state of excitation from which it took him many days to 
recover. However this may have been, Bolivar had no 
fear of London bottled porter, of which he frequently 
carried with him a stock when on the march. 

Mention has been made of Mrs. English, who accom- 
panied General English on his expedition to South 
America, and who, after her husband's death, continued 
in that continent. This lady appears to have been of a 
most resolute and estimable character, and after an un- 
pleasant experience or two at the hands of some of the 
less reputable of the native leaders, she appears to have 
won the respect of all. Her house subsequently seems to 
have formed one of the centers of Anglo-South American 
society at Bogota. 

It was in the course of a ball and supper at Mrs. Eng- 
lish's house that a joyful and dramatic episode occurred. 
The Vice-President of the new State was present, and in 
the midst of the entertainment General Paez's English 
aide-de-camp. Major Withen, arrived in hot haste with 
the news that Puerto Cabello had been captured and that 
the freedom of Colombia had finally been achieved. The 
bearer of this despatch — signed by Colonel Woodberry — 
had covered a distance between Puerto Cabello and Bo- 
gota in twenty days, a feat never before achieved ! 

It is possible enough that the British legion may have 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 187 

been accompanied by others of its officers' wives, but, if 
so, I have come across no record of them. 

When the War of Liberation came to an end not a few 
of these British warriors turned their swords into local 
plowshares — or their more modern equivalent. Colonel 
Manby, for instance, proposed to occupy himself in sub- 
stituting gas for the few feeble paper lanterns which glim- 
mered from a street corner or two of Bogota of the early 
nineteenth century. Colonel Johnston, in association 
with a Mr. Thompson, obtained a grant of the richest 
rock-salt mines in the North, at Zipaquira, which they in- 
tended to work on the European plan, while Colonel 
James Hamilton was given the sole right of navigating the 
Orinoco River by means of steam vessels. Other officers, 
moreover, obtained grants of land. 



CHAPTER X 

BRITISH FIGHTERS IN THE CAUSE OF SOUTH 
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 

(n) 

Bernardo O'Higgins — State circumstances affecting his birth — Relations 
between the great viceroy and his son — A haphazard early existence — 
Meeting with Miranda and San Martin — The consequences of parental 
neglect — On his father's death Bernardo O'Higgins arrives in Chile — 
His life as a country gentleman — On the outbreak of war he espouses 
the patriot cause — The battle of Rancagua — Admirable qualities of 
Bernardo O'Higgins — Their value to the State — Captain Mehegan'a 
book — Liberal methods of the Dictator — He maintains his dignity to the 
end — Juan Mackenna — Early history — His arrival in South America — 
Made Governor of Osorno by the Viceroy O'Higgins — Subsequent pro- 
motion — Mackenna joins the patriots — Josg Miguel Carrera — A stormy 
petrel — Animosity between Mackenna and Carrera — Problems of lead- 
ership — Carrera banishes Mackenna across the Andes — He fails O'Hig- 
gins at the battle of Rancagua — Flight of the South Americans into 
Argentina — Carrera's intrigues in Mendoza are frustrated by Mackenna 
— Mackenna is killed by Carrera in a duel — The Carreras — Benjamin 
Vicufia Mackenna — Assistance rendered by the British community of 
Mendoza — Lord Cochrane — Some characteristics of the great sailor — 
Stormy career of this marine comet — At the request of Bernardo O'Hig- 
gins he takes charge of the Chilean navy — His exploits in the Pacific 
Ocean — The capture of the Esmeralda and of the Corral forts — Fric- 
tion between Cochrane and San Martin — Bernardo O'Higgins mediator 
— Cochrane's family — A battle episode — An incident in which Lady 
Cochrane figured — William Miller — After serving in the British army 
he sails to South America — Shortly after his arrival in Buenos Aires 
he receives a commission in San Martin's army — His experiences in 
the Pampa — Mendoza society — Miller joins his regiment in Chile — His 
brother officers — A heterogeneous but genial group — After distinguish- 
ing himself in his first action he is given command of a company of 
marines — The frigate Lautaro's officers and crew — Captain O'Brien — 
Death of this gallant sailor — Enthusiasm of the Lautaro's scratch crew 
— Its curious composition — Fine achievements of the young navy — 
The Chilean proves himself an admirable sailor — Satisfactory relations 
between officers and men — Miller's marines — Proofs of devotion given 
by this body — Miller visits Santiago — Gaieties of the capital — St. An- 
drew's day — Lord Cochrane presides in Highland costume — Entertain- 

188 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 189 

mentd provided by the British fleet — The first cricket in Chile — Social 
functions — Lady Cochrane and Senora Blanco as hostesses — Charm of 
the Chilean ladies described by a contemporary admirer — ^The Chilean 
fleet sets sail from Valparaiso — Admiral Guise — Miller's various wounds 
— Some fallen British officers — Colonel Charles — Various posts held by 
Miller — The Montonero cavalry — Motley appearance of the corps — Its 
value as a fighting force — A dangerous feu de joie — Warfare in the 
rainless Peruvian deserts — Elaborate strategy devised by Miller — In- 
genious methods by which the Spaniards were outwitted — Local super- 
stitions — Amenities between Miller and the Spanish leaders — On the 
conclusion of the war Miller is made prefect of Potosi — His departure 
from South America — Esteem in which he was held — ^Miller returns to 
South America eight years later — His vicissitudes in altered circiun- 
stanees — His death — Honors accorded to his body. 

IN dealing with the struggle in the South of the con- 
tinent we are confronted at the outset with an 
anomaly. Strictly speaking, Bernardo O'Higgins, 
the son of the famous Irish Viceroy of Peru, being a 
Chilean and no British subject, has no place in these 
pages. But, whatever his nationality, it is impossible to 
pass without remark by so great an historical figure as 
that of Bernardo 'Higgins. 

A viceroy of Peru, holding so many of the privileges of 
royalty, was subject to a corresponding number of the 
restrictions of his high state. No viceroy, for instance, 
was permitted to marry a lady who resided within his 
viceregal territories. But for this law, it is probable 
enough that Bernardo O'Higgins would have been born in 
wedlock, for his mother, Isabel Riquelme, belonged to one 
of the aristocratic families of Chile. She undoubtedly 
proved an admirable mother, and a deep affection existed 
between that lady, her son, and her daughter Rosa. 

It was owing to the irregular circumstances of his fam- 
ily that so little is known about Bernardo 'Higgins 's 
quite early days. Even the date of his birth is surpris- 
ingly vague, and it is generally conceded that it may have 
occurred at any period between the years 1775 and 1780. 
The biographies of very few eighteenth-century men of 
his eminence contain so shrouded a birthday as this ! 



190 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

The Viceroy Ambrose O'Higgins publicly recognized 
Bernardo as his son. At the same time it must be ad- 
mitted that his care for his offspring was of a desultory 
species. As a boy of fifteen the latter was sent to Spain, 
and from there he went on to England, remaining some 
time at a school at Richmond. 

At this very early stage of his existence he was ap- 
parently left entirely to his own devices. Usually, his 
father's agents supplied him with a sufficient amount of 
money, but there were times when he suffered from a 
temporary neglect, and when funds ran low. After four 
or five years of this comparatively haphazard existence 
he sailed for Spain. 

It is curious to reflect that it was this very free-lance 
life imposed by the merely casual attention bestowed on 
him by Don Ambrosio which brought Bernardo O'Higgins 
into contact, in England and Spain, with South American 
patriots such as Miranda and San Martin. In fact, had 
it not been for this parental neglect, it is morally certain 
that he would never have formed those connections nor 
drunk in those progressive ideas which eventually caused 
him to play so great a part in the subsequent overthrow 
of that mighty empire, of which, at the time, his father 
was the greatest administrator. 

After experiencing numerous vicissitudes and occa- 
sional privations in Spain, Bernardo O'Higgins, having 
learned of his father's death, when he himself was twenty- 
four years of age, set sail for Chile, and very nearly 
ended his days at Cape Horn, where the vessel in which 
he was a passenger struck a rock, and lay for a time in 
the greatest peril. Eventually he arrived home in safety 
in the Chilean winter of 1802. 

He now found himself in possession of hacienda of con- 
siderable importance bequeathed him by his father, and, 
entering the militia, he lived for a time the life of a 
Chilean country gentleman. During this period it ap- 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 191 

pears that his views were looked on with suspicion by 
the Spanish authorities. 

When the War of Independence broke out Bernardo 
O'Higgins definitely ranged himself on the patriot side. 
In the stress of the early, and frequently disastrous, con- 
flicts he had ample opportunity to prove his courage as 
well as his resource. One of the most notable instances 
of this occurred at the battle of Eancagua, where his 
forces — deserted by his treacherous ally Carrera^ — ^were 
hemmed in by a greatly superior Spanish force. An in- 
furiated struggle raged, and the Spaniards attacked al- 
most without cessation for thirty-six hours. In the heat 
of the bitter struggle each side hoisted the black flag, a 
somber standard that waved a grim message to the fight- 
ers that no quarter was to be given or expected ! 

The Chilean magazine had exploded; ammunition had 
given out, and the houses of the town amid which they 
fought were blazing fiercely. Even then Bernardo 
'Higgins did not despair. He hastily caused a number 
of horses, mules, and cattle to be collected. Side by side 
with a gallant comrade, Eamon Freire, he placed himself 
at the head of a remnant of scarcely more than two hun- 
dred of his men. Then, driving the livestock furiously 
before them to confuse their enemies, the survivors 
charged out of the burning town, and cut their way 
through the ranks of the Spaniards. 

On this occasion 'Higgins received a bullet through 
the leg, the first of the wounds he was destined to receive 
in the patriot service. 

It is clear that, in addition to his qualities of courage 
and statesmanship, the lovable character of Bernardo 
'Higgins assisted in winning for him the great influence 
he possessed. It seems frequently to have been his lot 
to play the part of a mediator. He had this temperament 
of his to thank, early in the campaign, for his appoint- 
ment as commander-in-chief of the Chilean forces — an 



O 



192 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

appointment whicli, as one who had received no military 
education, he accepted only after some demur. He does 
not seem to have been one of the objects even of the many 
hatreds of Jose Carrera, while, the frequent involuntary 
umpire in the disputes between Cochrane and the Argen- 
tine leader San Martin, he achieved the seemingly im- 
possible in retaining the affection of both. 

A master mariner. Captain John J. Mehegan, has quite 
recently produced a book, ' ' 'Higgins of Chile. ' ' In ac- 
tual volume it is a small literary egg, but it is very full 
of yolk! In this interesting little work the author has 
followed the career of Bernardo 'Higgins with the en- 
thusiastic closeness of a genuine admirer. A couple of 
paragraphs from his preface will bring the career of 
Bernardo 'Higgins, when at its zenith, very near to our 
own days: 

* ' Many an adventurous seaman from the shores of the 
Mersey and Thames joined 'Barney's Navy,' and helped 
to break the Spanish power in the South Pacific ; and the 
writer in his early days met a few of these 'sheer hulks' 
who, under the cheering influence of hot grog, would 
thaw out, unseal their usually taciturn organs of speech, 
and recount their adventures and experiences while en- 
gaged in the service of the 'Irish Dago.' " 

As dictator of the new State — the era of presidents had 
not yet been arrived at in South America — Bernardo re- 
vealed those great qualities of government with which 
history has made the world sufficiently familiar. In many 
respects his methods resembled those of his father, the 
viceroy. The liberal mind of the latter had frequently 
nonplussed the Spanish authorities: the progressive 
measures of the son frequently brought him into collision 
with the more conservative elements of the new Chile — 
the elements, in fact, which most closely resembled those 
of the old Chile. 

It was the manner in which his progressive policy was 
opposed by the conservative section that led to Bernardo 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 193 

O'Higgins's retirement from power. This momentous 
step lie carried out of his own initiative, and the ceremony 
with which he divested himself of the insignia of his rank 
and proclaimed himself a private citizen was characteris- 
tically simple and dignified. Indeed, the sunset of 
Bernardo 'Higgins 's career was every whit as impres- 
sive as its midday hour. More remarkable still, his hold 
upon the people's affection was as strong. 

Colonel John Mackenna, who played a very prominent 
part in the War of Liberation, came out to South America 
under quite different auspices from those of his British 
comrades in arms. This, however, was merely owing to 
the fact that he arrived in that continent fifteen years or 
so before the fateful campaign began. 

Mackenna, who was born in 1771 at Clogher in the 
county of Tyrone, began his military career in Spain. 
Of a good family, he was received as a cadet in the Irish 
regiment in that country, and served with some distinc- 
tion in Morocco and against the French in the Peninsula. 

He had attained to the rank of captain when it occurred 
to him that South America promised greater things. 
There, for instance, was looming the tremendous figure 
of a countryman who had set out with not a tithe of 
Mackenna 's advantages, 'Higgins, the Viceroy of Peru. 

To the dismay of his parents Mackenna determined on 
the venture, and, at the end of 1796, having been recom- 
mended to Don Ambrosio 'Higgins, he set sail for 
Buenos Aires. From that port he pricked along west- 
wards through the hot summer dust of the flat Pampa, 
crossed the Andes, and sailed northwards from the port 
of Valparaiso to Lima. 

'Higgins, finding that Mackenna was a man very much 
after his own heart, made him governor of the town of 
Osorno, and there, among the beautiful forests, moun- 
tains, and streams of Southern Chile, Mackenna labored 
with strenuous success at the problems of road-construc- 
tion and of the repair and upkeep of the fortifications 



194. BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

erected to defend the district against the attacks of the 
warlike Araucanian Indians. He was afterwards given 
charge of Valdivia, and so satisfied were the authorities 
with his services that he was promoted to the rank of 
colonel, and was made Governor of Valparaiso. 

When the Civil War broke out Mackenna had every 
material inducement to continue in the service of the 
royalists. 

But his convictions lay so strongly with the other side 
that his material interests went by the board. He em- 
braced the patriot cause, became a comrade of Bernardo 
'Higgins, and together with him shared the vicissitudes 
of the early Chilean campaign. 

Very soon Mackenna found himself involved in the 
confusion brought upon the patriot army by that arch- 
conspirator and most unreliable of stormy petrels, Jose 
Miguel Carrera. Carrera, one of three brothers who 
afterwards suffered execution in Argentina, though he 
fought as a leader on the Chilean side, had in reality 
only one cause, and that was his own. On more than 
one occasion his intrigues obtained for him the temporary 
command of the patriot forces, but his character never 
permitted him to retain this post for any length of time. 
His adventurous disposition, moreover, was not of the 
type which shows to the best advantages on the field of 
battle, for in the face of the enemy he more than once 
failed to lend to his comrades at a critical moment aid 
which would have averted defeat and gained a victory. 

From the start of the war Mackenna set himself with 
resolution to oppose Carrera 's most unscrupulous moves, 
with the result that a bitter animosity sprang up between 
the pair. In the early days of the revolution, however, 
when Mackenna was adjutant general and Carrera was 
commander-in-chief, these sentiments had of necessity to 
be suppressed. 

At this juncture of the War of Liberation undoubtedly 
Carrera stands for the evil genius of Chile, and Mackenna 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 195 

and Bernardo O'Higgins for its good, though baffled, 
angels. The latter pair fought strenuously side by side, 
struggling hard to repair on the battle-field the harvest 
of errors sown by the incapacity of Carrera. 

Seeing that this condition of affairs could have no other 
end but that of the ruin of the patriot cause, Mackenna in- 
tervened, and his remonstrances with the Junta — the au- 
thorities of the very youthful State of Chile — resulted in 
'Higgins being named commander-in-chief of the forces 
in the place of Carrera. The latter accepted the situa- 
tion, since no other course was open to him at that mo- 
ment, but he remained in the neighborhood of the armies, 
poised like a hawk to pounce upon the first opportunity of 
snatching power that should come his way. 

After this the joint efforts of 'Higgins and Mackenna 
stemmed for a time the royalist tide. But before long 
the plotting of Carrera again proved successful. Hav- 
ing obtained the control of the State, he endeavored to 
make his precarious position more secure by banishing 
Mackenna to Argentina across the Andes. 

With the destinies of Chile in the irresponsible hands 
of Jose Carrera and of his brothers Juan and Luis, a 
crisis in the affairs of the young State was not long to be 
delayed. At the fierce battle of Eancagua, Jose Carrera 
left the gallant 'Higgins in the lurch, and although he, 
with the remnant of his heroic deserted force, succeeded 
in cutting a bloody way through the encircling Spaniards, 
the result was a complete victory for the Spanish general 
and a triumph for the royalist arms. 

After the battle of Eancagua the patriot cause appeared 
entirely lost. The capital was again occupied by the tri- 
umphant Spaniards, while the remnant of the Chilean 
force, accompanied by a number of brave ladies, struggled 
over the Andes into Argentina, losing many of their 
number in the course of the strenuous journey — a casualty 
list which would have been increased but for the succor 
and provisions which Mackenna sent to the stricken fugi- 



^ 



196 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

tives from Mendoza, the town of his exile at the foot of 
the eastern slopes of the Andes. 

Jose Carrera — who had not delayed his flight until the 
end of the battle of Rancagua — had arrived in Mendoza 
with the rest of the fugitives. There he endeavored to 
continue his intrigues; but he found that the sins of his 
past were coming out into the daylight to roost! The 
great Argentine, San Martin — who had received the rest 
with the most cordial hospitality — looked upon him coldly, 
and there was his enemy Mackenna on the spot — a witness 
whose word was honored, and whose testimony could not 
be doubted. Incensed that his plots should be thus baffled, 
Jose Carrera picked an open quarrel with Mackenna, 
chose Admiral Brown as his second, and in the duel that 
followed Mackenna fell. 

Undoubtedly this was one of the worst of the many 
pieces of mischief which Carrera succeeded in doing to 
the patriot cause ; for the history of the Carrerra brothers 
would seem to be one of outrage that continually mounted 
in audacity, and that was only checked by the execution 
at different dates of all three. 

But Mackenna, although he fell in this way, had at all 
events bequeathed his race to the Chilean nation, as is 
proved by the existence of Benjamin Vicuiia Mackenna, 
one of the most famous of Chilean authors and statesmen, 
who was born in 1831. 

Preparations, moreover, for the campaign continued 
without a break at Mendoza under the vigilant supervi- 
sion of General San Martin. The great Argentine his- 
torian, General Bartolome Mitre, states that the English 
were the first of the youthful foreign communities to 
volunteer assistance. According to this authority, they 
raised a corps of riflemen, on the condition that the offi- 
cers should be elected by themselves. This they did, be- 
cause, in their own words ''appreciative of hospitality 
and the rights of man, they could not view with indiffer- 
ence the danger which threatened the country, and were 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 197 

prepared to take up arms, and, if necessary to yield up the 
last drop of their blood in its defense." 

In the part played by the British in the War of In- 
dependence in the Pacific one of the most notable figures 
is that of Lord Cochrane. Now in a sense — and in one 
sense only — this book resembles heaven. The more ma- 
terial fame a man has enjoyed in his life, the less notice 
he can receive in these pages ! In spite of objections to 
the celestial claim, the procedure is inevitable, if a mere 
repetition of popular history is to be avoided. 

This applies to Cochrane more than to any other Brit- 
ish fighter in the patriot cause. So much has already 
been written about this most gallant and mercurial noble- 
man that he must appear here merely in a few passing 
glimpses — ^which is only fitting in a personality of his 
elusive and extraordinary daring. Indeed, the peculiarly 
Irish genius of the great Scotsman, which I have drunk 
in eagerly from the period of boyhood's literature, some 
years ago led me into an error that was due to absent- 
mindedness rather than to ignorance. For not until the 
Scottish papers came down upon my error with richly 
justified severity was I made aware that I had written, 
in a cotton- wool-headed moment ''the Irishman, Lord 
Cochrane!" To what extent Dundonald himself would 
have relished this tribute to his resource I do not know. 

Much, I suppose, would have depended on his mood, 
the normal frame of which left him in a condition spoiling 
for a fight ! 

In his moments of action Cochrane was a magnificent 
comrade. In the rush of a boarding party, the heat of a 
hand-to-hand fight, and the steady irresistible advance 
over the slippery decks, there was no living man whom 
the ordinary sailor would rather have had by his side. 
Had he reserved this mood for the turmoil of actual bat- 
tle it would have been well for him and his friends. It 
was precisely his inability to shake it off in times and 
places that should have been devoted to peace that put 



198 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

many people — including himself — to much inconvenience 
in various parts of the world. 

Before Bernardo O'Higgins had invited him to come 
out to the Pacific in order to found the Chilean navy, 
Cochrane had already achieved sufficient to cause his 
name to be regarded with a wholesome dread by his 
political enemies at home. But he had done more than 
that. His combative methods in Parliament had imbued 
his own co-legislators with a dread that was almost 
equally profound, and, when he had once been removed 
from the chamber by the force of many arms, there were 
doubtless a number of the more timid who heaved a sigh 
of relief on the Westminster bank of the Thames. 

Bernardo O'Higgins had made no mistake in his man. 
Lord Cochrane arrived in Chile in November, 1818, and, 
a marine comet, was followed by an adventurous tail of 
British and North American seamen. In four years or so 
he had completely swept away the Spanish navy, that 
had never even dreamed that a fleet flying any other flag 
but its own could ever come into existence in the Pacific 
Ocean. The great admiral's exploits on this coast are, 
of course, world famous. The two most salient of these 
are probably the daring and ingenious cutting-out of the 
Spanish forty-gun frigate Esmeralda from under the guns 
of Callao Castle, and the storming of the Coral forts in 
Southern Chile, one of the most astonishing feats ever 
accomplished by a squadron's landing party. 

Beyond this were dozens of other performances of a 
kind that could never have been achieved by a sailor of 
less determination and initiative than Cochrane. All this 
was to have been expected, and Cochrane received full 
honors and acknowledgments from the Chilean people, for 
whom he entertained a cordial affection. 

On the other hand, there can be no doubt that Coch- 
rane 's leisure moments were devoted with too much en- 
thusiasm to the adjusting of grievances — real or imagin- 
ary — such as required, if the former, little beyond diplo- 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 199 

matic handling to be smoothed out of existence. With 
all his admirable and gallant qualities, too much leisure 
did not suit one who has been called "a kind of destroy- 
ing angel, with a limited income, and a turn for politics ! ' ' 

It was lamentable, for instance, that Cochrane should 
have fallen foul of San Martin. But, in any case, the 
policy and temperaments of the two great men were 
diametrically opposed. San Martin — ^whose valor was 
blended with a shrewd and calculating caution of a Scot- 
tish type — ^was more than once content to hold back his 
arm and to let the forces of nature work irresistibly in 
his favor. Cochrane, on the other hand — ^with a fire and 
impatience that was essentially Latin! — became chafed 
into a frenzy of irritation at a policy of impassivity which 
was entirely foreign to his nature. Hence a mutual dis- 
trust, and, only too often, a bitter correspondence. 
Hence, too, an infinity of worries to the wise friend of 
both, Bernardo O'Higgins, whose part it frequently was 
to pour balm on the troubled spirits. 

When Lord Cochrane sailed out to Chile it had been his 
intention to remain there for the rest of his life. To this 
end he had brought out with him agricultural implements, 
seeds, and other objects. He also brought out his charm- 
ing wife and his young son. 

Of the innumerable, and well known, incidents which 
might be repeated here did space permit is the one which 
has this boy Tom^ — then a youngster of ten — for a hero, 
when, his face covered with the brains of a marine killed 
by a cannon ball, he tranquilly assured his father in the 
midst of a naval engagement, ' * Indeed, Papa, the shot did 
not touch me ; indeed, I am not hurt. ' ' But to attempt to 
dive into the too great sea of such anecdotes would be to 
get out of one's depth immediately. 

As a hostess Lady Cochrane 's success was immediate 
and great in a land famous for the fascination of its 
women. Lady Cochrane 's popularity, moreover, was not 
confined to the upper classes. Here is an episode, told 



200 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

by John Miller, which occurred during Colonel (after-, 
wards General) Miller's stay at Huacho: 

' * On the day after his arrival there, and whilst he was 
inspecting the detachments in the Plaza, Lady Cochrane 
galloped on to the parade to speak to him (Miller). The 
sudden appearance of youth and beauty, on a fiery horse, 
managed with skill and elegance, absolutely electrified the 
men, who had never before seen an English lady : ' Que 
hermosa!' 'Que graciosa!' 'Quelinda!' 'Que guapa!' 
'Que airosa! es un angel del cielo!' were exclamations 
that escaped from one end of the line to the other. The 
lieutenant-colonel, not displeased at this involuntary hom- 
age, paid to the beauty of a country-woman, said to the 
men, 'This is our Generala.' Her ladyship turned her 
sparkling eyes toward the line, and bowed graciously. 
The troops could no longer confine their expressions of 
admiration to half-suppressed interjections; loud vivas 
burst from ofl&cers as well as men. Lady Cochrane smiled 
her acknowledgments, and cantered off the ground with 
the grace of a fairy. ' ' 

In such delightful company as that of Lady Cochrane 
we may well leave her gallant husband for a time. 

William Miller, who was bom in 1795, had seen a con- 
siderable amount of service with the British army in the 
Peninsula and in North America, and had traveled Eu- 
rope rather extensively in a private capacity, before he 
sailed for Buenos Aires in 1817 in order to take up arms 
in the cause of South American freedom. He chose the 
South of the continent in preference to Colombia for the 
reason that the former as yet was almost unvisited by the 
foreign soldiers as well as mere adventurers who had 
flocked in great numbers to the latter country. 

Once landed on the rich alluvial soil of Buenos Aires, he 
found himself in the midst of a community of his own 
compatriots who had already firmly established them- 
selves in that budding city. Although strongly tempted 
by the lucrative commercial vista which was already re- 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 201 

vealing itself in that spot, he determined to persist in his 
chosen career of the sword. His closest friends in 
Buenos Aires appear to have been people of the name of 
Mackinlay, and a Mr. Dickinson, who presented him to 
Pueyrredon, the supreme director of the new republic. 

As a result of this he received in due course a cap- 
tain's commission in the army of the Andes which, com- 
manded by the famous Argentine general, San Martin, 
was then in Chile. Before this, however, he had ridden 
for long distances over the pampa, and had obtained con- 
siderable experiences of the life of the plains. It was 
there that he learned the ways of the Gaucho children of 
the prairies, and watched them in their every-day tasks 
when they galloped to ** round up" the cattle, or, having 
lassoed and slain one of the herd, would roast its carcase 
above the wood fire that blazed amid the green grasses 
and scarlet verbena of the pampa, and, having cut away 
long strips of the cooked flesh, would place the ends in 
their mouths, and would slice the pieces clear from the 
main strip by slashes of their long knives. 

He would see them, too, in their festal lace and silver, 
thrumming their guitars to love songs or chanted epics, 
when a single mocking word would send the great sword- 
knife whipping out from its sheath, and the poncho would 
go curling rapidly round the left arm of each antagonist 
as a shield. Undoubtedly he learned much in these first 
weeks of his in South America which was of great use to 
him in his subsequent campaigns. He learned much, too, 
from his hospitable Argentine hosts, and galloped after 
deer and ostrich, and shot duck, partridge, pigeon, and 
quail to his heart's content. 

Occasionally, of course, he met with that rough-and- 
ready criticism such as the raw Gringo must expect at 
the hands of the hardened rider of the plains. Thus, on 
his way across the plains to the Andes, having refused 
the offer of a cigarette, he had to submit with what grace 
he could to his postilion's audible verdict on himself as 



202 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

given to the postilion of the next stage. It was curt, but 
eloquently pitying, "He knows nothing — can't even 
smoke ! " At Mendoza, that pleasant town in the shadow 
of the great Andes, famous for its poplars, vineyards, 
and peach groves that abound on the banks of its irrigat- 
ing streams, Miller saw much of the local society. A 
genial man of the world, the Argentines found him sim- 
patico, and took him without reserve into their hearts. 
Thus he was enabled to take part in the evening parties, 
the Tertulias, of the place, and to admire the infinite grace 
of the daylight minuets, walked on plain earthen floors 
by the men of Mendoza and the ladies, these latter fre- 
quently attired in a riding habit, a long whip in their 
hand. 

Miller, having crossed the Andes by the pass of TJspal- 
lata — until quite recent years a feat much easier to de- 
scribe than perform — joined his regiment, the Buenos 
Aires artillery. From the very first moment he appears 
to have got on well with his fellow officers — a gallant, but 
curiously heterogeneous set of men. Miller has left a 
record of some of these, and it is sufficiently instructive. 
There was Francisco Dias, a most polished ex-officer of 
the Spanish navy, who spoke English fluently, and was 
familiar with French literature. There was Juan 
Apostol Martinez, a very cheerful and most ridiculously 
eccentric captain, who hated Spaniards and priests to 
such a degree that he played every conceivable prank on 
these whenever the opportunity offered, and even fought 
three duels with Dias on this account. There was a 
"^ Frenchman who had been educated at the ecole polytech- 
nique at Paris, and who had afterwards been page to 
King Jerome Bonaparte ; there was Beltran, a monk who 
had unfrocked himself to fight in the cause of South 
American independence, and who proved himself a gal- 
lant officer; and there was the adjutant, Talmayancu, 
an educated and lively Araucanian Indian, who was fond 
of playing practical jokes on the sentries at night! 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 203 

Surely these suffice to prove the extraordinarily mixed 
composition of the corps! As to the others, let Miller's 
testimony be given in his own words : * ' There were some 
very fine young men amongst the other officers of the 
corps, and all were extremely obliging. Most of them 
played on the guitar, or sang, and good fellowship reigned 
throughout the camp." 

Having once become thoroughly at home among these 
new comrades of his. Miller, having obtained leave, rode 
down to the port of Valparaiso, where he was delighted 
to see the white ensign floating over the waters of the 
Pacific. Here he was most cordially received by Com- 
modore Bowles on board H.M.S. Amphion. Thus we find 
him established on the Pacific slope where he was des- 
tined to win fame and honor. It is impossible, of course, 
to give more than the merest outline of his career here. 

Of its more salient features it may be said that Miller 
was fortunate enough to distinguish himself in the first 
important encounter with the royalist forces, and in this 
action, heroically assisted by Ensign Moreno, he saved 
two of the guns of the Buenos Aires artillery. Shortly 
after this he was detached with a company of infantry to 
act as marines on board the newly purchased old East- 
Indiaman of 800 tons, the Wyndham, now known as the 6 
Lautaro frigate in the Chilean service. 

The Lautaro may serve as a typical specimen of the 
material out of which the young Chilean navy was being 
forged at that time. Here, then, is the ship's company 
of the frigate Lautaro of the young Chilean navy. Her 
officers were for the most part British. Her commander 
was Captain 'Brien, formerly a lieutenant in the British 
navy, in which service he had already distinguished him- 
self in the action which ended in the capture of the 
United States frigate Essex. 

O'Brien was one of the most gallant officers who ever 
trod a warship, to say nothing of the deck of an old East- 
Indiaman converted into a frigate! He died in the 



204 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Lautaro's action with the Spanish frigate Esmeralda, 
when, having leaped on board the enemy's ship at the 
head of the willing stream of his men, the two vessels 
swung apart, and O'Brien, fighting to the last, was un- 
avoidably left to face the Esmeralda's men with no more 
than thirty devoted followers. 

All this was only ten hours after her capstan had been 
manned for the first time in the Chilean service by the 
Lautaro's new and scratch crew! And this crew in 
some ways was one of the most remarkable that ever 
manned a warship. The expert division was represented 
by a hundred foreign seamen. Beyond these were one 
hundred and fifty Chileans, many of whom had never 
before boarded a sea-going vessel, but whose enthusiasm 
had been so keen that many of them swam to the ship from 
the shore in order to make certain of being included in the 
crew! 

Such was the Lautaro and her crew, and it was this 
latter type of sailor that, under Cochrane and his sub- 
ordinate officers, speedily piled up a record of deeds such 
as any of the old maritime nations of the world would 
have been proud to claim for their own. 

When, whether by capture or purchase, the Chilean 
fleet increased to more formidable proportions, it was 
still officered in the main by Englishmen, although a 
considerable sprinkling of North Americans and other 
nationalities now assisted, and Captain Dias, Miller's 
former comrade in the Buenos Aires artillery, being 
clearly an amphibious person, is once again seen on the 
waters in command of the little twenty-gun ship 
Chacabuco. 

Efficiency soon began to oil the springs of the fleet, and 
the Chileans, gaining experience, showed themselves even 
finer sailors than their first commanders had dared to 
hope. Officers and men — though they frequently failed 
to understand each other's lay or nautical speech — began 
to swear by each other's merits. Their ships became 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 206 

those fortunate things that are known in the British 
navy as ''happy ships." When at the top of their busi- 
ness, the crews aimed their guns and boarded with ar- 
dor ; when off duty, the officers would dance on the quar- 
ter deck, the men in the waist and on the forecastle. 

Miller saw to it that his marines kept in the forefront 
of this progress of efficiency, and they repaid his efforts 
to the full. On one occasion he was sent ashore with a 
flag of truce which the Spaniards violated, and had it not 
been for the intervention of some honorable royalist 
officers, and for the angry threats of retaliation hurled 
against the Spanish commander by his comrades afloat, 
it is probable that his life would have been sacrificed 
to the vindictiveness of the Spanish general Sanchez. 
When he eventually returned in safety to his own vessel. 
Miller found that his marines had gone aft in a body, and 
had begged the commodore to allow them to land and 
to rescue their officer, an attempt which must have meant 
certain death to them ! 

After much successful cruising Commodore Blanco, ac- 
companied by Miller, set out for the Chilean capital of 
Santiago, and met with a regular triumphal reception as 
they approached the city. Incidentally in the course of 
this journey Miller reveals that even among the very 
gallant and warm-hearted Chileans there were pressed 
men. ''The approach," he relates, "was rendered inex- 
pressibly delightful by the cheering welcome. . . . Even a 
party of recruits, tied hand to hand, halted and uttered 
their vivas as heartily as did their escort." 

After this Miller was plunged head over ears into the 
gaieties of Santiago, even then a town of arch-hospitality, 
at which delightful place even then, as Miller remarks, 
Chileans and foreigners associated together perhaps 
more than in any other great town of South America. 

At the end of November, 1818, Lord Cochrane arrived 
at Valparaiso to take over the supreme command of the 
Chilean navy. This was followed by a season of that 



206 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

festivity which is so dear to the Chilean heart, and balls 
and entertainments of all kinds abounded. As a return 
for the numerous affairs of the kind given by the 
Chileans, Lord Cochrane in the full costume of a High- 
land chief presided at an elaborate banquet held on St. 
Andrew's day. Miller's brother renders a diplomatic 
account of the convivial revelry on that occasion : 

''Extraordinary good cheer was followed by toasts 
drank with uncommon enthusiasm in extraordinary good 
wine. No one escaped its enlivening influence. St. An- 
drew was voted the patron saint of champagne, and many 
curious adventures of that night have furnished the sub- 
ject of some still remembered anecdotes." 

Now, were vulgar slang permitted in a work of this 
nature, surely the verdict on this wise and guarded ac- 
count would be " 'Nuff said!" It breathes out a remin- 
iscent exhilaration which in itself is most graphic. No 
doubt these good fellows of tried gallantry let them- 
selves go to their hearts' content, and, each being pro- 
foundly satisfied with the Veritas (or veritate for the 
classic-minded) in vino that he found in the other, the 
budding friendship between the Chileans and British 
must have attained its intimate majority then and there. 
This undoubtedly was one of the first of those innum- 
erable Chileno gatherings upon which the Andes frowned 
on from above, and the blue Pacific smiled at from be- 
low! 

The officers of the two British warships Andromache 
and Blossom, just then in Valparaiso Bay, lost no time 
in associating themselves with these festivities. The 
first regular race course on the Pacific coast was im- 
provised ; a level space in the neighborhood of the town 
was cleared of its cactus and scrub, and then followed 
cricket matches, and the bang of the leather ball against 
those queerly shaped old bats of the early nineteenth 
century. 

But let the contemporary chronicler from whose pages 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 207 

I have already quoted sum up the doings at Valparaiso at 
this period: 

''The intercourse between Valparaiso and the capital 
was incessant. A grand ball at one place drew numbers 
of the beau monde from the other. Tertulias, or routs, 
and dances were given nearly every evening at Val- 
paraiso. The two presiding belles were Lady Cochrane 
and Mrs. Commodore Blanco, both young, fascinating, 
and highly gifted. The first was a flattering specimen of 
the beauty of England, and the second was perhaps the 
most beautiful and engaging woman of Chile. ... In the 
bright galaxy of Chilena enchantresses are to be recorded 
the names of Dias-Cajigas, Cotapos, Vicuna, Perez, 
Caldera, Gana, Barra, with a hundred more, all calculated 
to produce ineffaceable impressions. In the midst of 
these gay scenes the outfit of the squadron was com- 
pleted." 

On the 14th of January, 1819, all was ready, and the 
following ships put out to sea: O'Eiggins, 50 guns. 
Vice- Admiral Lord Cochrane, Captain Forster ; San Mar- 
tin, 56 guns. Captain Wilkinson ; Lautaro, 48 guns. Cap- 
tain Guise ; Chacabuco, 20 guns. Captain Carter. Miller, 
it may be said, was appointed to the command of all the 
troops of the squadron serving as marines. 

The Chilean navy was now fairly launched upon the 
waters, and the deeds it performed are too well known 
to need recapitulation here. When it had done its work 
no Spanish flag flew, afloat or ashore, along the Spanish 
coast. 

The casualties among the British officers on such stren- 
uous service, as may be imagined, were not slight. From 
Lord Cochrane himself down to the junior ranks scarcely 
one emerged from the campaign unwounded. Miller's 
escapes from death were especially numerous, one of the 
narrowest of these being when he was injured by a 
chemical explosion which blew the nails from his finger- 
tips and his face out of all recognition for the time being- 



208 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

At Pisco he was wounded in four places, one ball perma- 
nently disabling his left hand, and another of the four 
entering his chest, fracturing a rib, and passing out at 
the back. On this occasion his life was again despaired 
of; yet he contrived to win his way back to health, to 
suffer a grazed head at Corral, and a terrible dose of 
mutilation at Chiloe, where a grapeshot passed through 
his left thigh; a four-pounder crushed his right instep, 
and a bullet inflicted a flesh wound. Three of his trusty 
marines bore him to safety under a murderous fire, two 
of them persisting in this duty even after they them- 
selves were wounded, and once again Miller recovered! 

Then, too, the land campaign was responsible for the 
loss of such fine fellows as Lieutenant Gerard, a gallant 
young Scotsman who had formerly belonged to the Brit- 
ish rifle corps ; another Scotsman of the name of Welsh, 
a deeply esteemed young surgeon whose loss was de- 
plored throughout every branch of the Chilean forces. 

But undoubtedly one of the most lamented of all these 
losses was that of Colonel Charles, a peculiarly gallant 
and chivalrous soldier who, having passed through the 
Royal Academy at Woolwich, served in the artillery in 
the Peninsula, and having been made aide-de-camp to 
Sir Robert Wilson, traveled and campaigned in Turkey, 
Germany, and Italy. On his arrival in South America, 
therefore, Charles was already a person of some distinc- 
tion, and had received orders and decorations from Rus- 
sia, Austria, and Prussia. His quite unusual intrepidity 
and charm made a deep impression on the west coast of 
South America, and, had he not fallen at Pisco — almost 
at the same moment when his close friend Miller was 
so severely wounded — it is probable that his name would 
still be ringing to and fro between the foot hills of the 
Andes. 

To return to General Miller, it may be said that none 
of his British comrades on land enjoyed such high com- 
mand and varied experiences of South American war- 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 209 

fare as he. Certainly he had no reason to complain of 
any monotony in his career. His initial appointment to 
the Buenos Aires artillery was followed, as we have seen, O 
by a transference to the marines. He was subsequently 
promoted by General San Martin to the lieutenant- 
colonelcy of a black corps, the eighth battalion of Buenos 
Aires. After this, having commanded a battalion of the 
Peruvian legion, he served as chief of the staff of the 
Peruvian army, the temporary command of which de- 
volved on him, and at this period he received from Boli- 
var a letter of appreciation and of personal thanks for 
his services. After two or three temporary cavalry 
commands Miller was appointed to the post of command- 
ant-general of the Peruvian cavalry, and we may pause 
for a few lines at this appointment, since it was one of 
the most notable he held. 

The Montoneros, or irregular cavalry of Peru, knowing 
either Miller's personality or repute, welcomed him with 
enthusiasm. Miller, too, was already familiar with the 
military virtues, as well as with the outward appear- 
ance, of his new troops. 

The most ardent admirer of the Montonero cavalry 
might have suffered some qualms concerning their pres- 
tige as they paraded before Miller. A pipe-clay mar- 
tinet would have sunk into an apoplectic trance on the 
spot. Scarcely any two out of the whole division of 
Montoneros were alike in uniform, accoutrements, or 
arms. This strong individuality of the riders seems to 
have affected even the mounts, for while some rode horses 
others sat astride mules! 

As to the men, their athletic bodies were garbed in 
every conceivable blend of patriot uniform, captured 
Spanish kit, and countryside costume; though not one 
of them was lacking his lasso or his poncho. Their arms 
were almost as varied as their uniforms, comprising al- 
most every known weapon, from lances, swords, pistols, 
muskets, and bayonets to daggers and long knives. 



210 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

But Miller knew that these rough-and-ready cavalry- 
men could fight — and their enthusiasm was heightened by 
the fact that they were aware of his knowledge ! As the 
commandant-general rode down the motley lines, the 
Montoneros let loose a spontaneous feu de joie as ir- 
regular as themselves. No doubt as he heard the bullets 
whistling past him Miller appreciated the compliment 
acutely ! The reckless fellows had no concern with blank 
cartridge ! But they succeeded in not hitting their popu- 
lar general. 

It was in operations among the sandy wastes of the 
Peruvian coastal desert that Miller was enabled to give 
his strategic genius full play. Frequently his force was 
obliged to penetrate into completely rainless deserts 
similar to that of Huantajaya, which used to be locally 
famous on account of the behavior of one of its young 
women when on a visit to Tarapaca, where a few quaint 
streams are wont to trickle. If to begin a story with the 
words : ''there was a young lady of Huantajaya'* — prom- 
ises (falsely) a continuation in Limerick verse, it cannot 
be helped. The young lady did exist, and on seeing for 
the first time one of these streams, she was horrified at 
the sight of so much precious water running to waste. 
**Save it !" she cried, flinging herself down, and endeavor- 
ing to scoop some of the fluid up in her hands. "You 
heretics of Tarapaquenos, save it!" 

The methods by which Miller continually deceived the 
Spanish leaders as to the actual strength of his force was 
frequently entertaining in the extreme — to all but the 
commanders of the opposing army. There would be 
numerous jugglings with uniforms. Trumpeters would 
sound at night in desolate valleys where no others but 
themselves rode, and dozens of camp-fires would blaze, 
warming nothing but the dry Peruvian air! Spanish 
prisoners just previous to their release would witness the 
cleverly staged march past of a great patriot army, in 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 211 

which each man did duty many times over. At night, 
too, these prisoners would hear the reiterated commands 
to prepare fresh billets for expected troops, and each 
such order was followed by the noise of an arriving 
squadron. This was sometimes carried to such a pitch 
that the patriot rank and file themselves were sometimes 
completely deceived as to the actual strength of the army 
with which they were marching! Miller's brother gives 
some interesting details concerning the use made of in- 
tercepted official royalist letters : 

''The originals were kept, and others counterfeited, 
and sent in their stead. Other letters were written in 
cipher, or in a mysterious style, for the express purpose 
of being intercepted, and which made Manzanedo doubt 
the fidelity of his own officers. Cordova and Kodriguez, 
two distinguished and influential priests, were particu- 
larly useful in the execution of these stratagems. Cor- 
dova willingly acted as secretary. . . . He was of a 
jovial turn ; and often, when half the night had been con- 
sumed in despatching letters in various directions, he 
and Miller would pass the remainder in hearty laughs 
at the strangeness of their productions, and in speculat- 
ing with great glee upon the probable results." 

The result of all this was the complete outwitting of 
the Spaniards, whom Miller would frequently keep in 
check by a mere handful of men posing as a formidable 
army! No doubt, too, Miller's impish genius made the 
most of those mysterious, rainless, and arid hills and 
valleys where, some said, lights would flicker at night, 
and the voices of the slaughtered ancient Peruvians would 
sound again across the still air! 

Miller, moreover, succeeded in winning the esteem of 
the Spaniards, who respected his chivalry, and when the 
occasion arose, courtesies were frequently exchanged be- 
tween him and the royalist leaders. So liberally were 
these amenities of warfare cultivated that the Spanish 



212 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

general Valdez, when he learned once that Miller had no 
cigars, sent the patriot commander a box of his own 
Havanas ! 

When the War of Liberation had been victoriously con- 
cluded the South Americans made it abundantly clear 
that they did not look upon General Miller in the light of 
a mere soldier of fortune. He was named prefect of the 
province of Potosi, and was thus given authority over a 
population of some three hundred thousand people. The 
scope of this civil and military authority, moreover, was 
extraordinarily wide. Miller's office included the posts 
of superintendent of the mint, director of the bank, vice- 
patron of the Church (who had the power of displacing 
clergy from their office, and without whose ratification no 
clerical appointment was valid) and involved the filling 
of over a hundred civil appointments ! 

Miller held this post with all success until reasons of 
health made it urgently necessary for him to return to 
England. His parting from his colleagues, both civil 
and military, was of the most affectionate description, 
and it was with a deep sense of mutual esteem that Mil- 
ler and the inhabitants of Potosi took leave of each 
other. After this Miller, bearing high and cordial testi- 
monials from General Bolivar, rode down from the moun- 
tains to the plains of Buenos Aires on his way to Europe. 
His material rewards, although not munificent, were not 
to be despised. He had received five thousand pounds 
from the Peruvian Government, and a grant of land from 
Argentina. 

It is said that an English merchant, traveling in the in- 
terior of Peru at that period, made a point of announcing 
himself as a countryman of Miller, because the usual an- 
swer was, ''A countryman of Miller's must have the best 
house and the best fare that an Indian village can af- 
ford." 

It is in one sense regrettable that Miller's public career 
cannot be closed with this triumphal homecoming of his 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 213 

to England. But after eight years he returned to Peru 
again, and this time found the new State in the throes 
of its internal dissensions. Becoming involved in these, 
he was banished from the country in 1839. This af- 
forded a tragic contrast to the manner in which his first 
departure had been effected. Decidedly it was not the 
fate anticipated by one of whom General Bolivar had 
said that, ''South America will always claim as one of 
her most glorious sons. ' ' But Bolivar's own lot was very 
little brighter than Miller's. The changes in Peru had 
been rapid! 

Miller subsequently obtained an appointment as British 
consul-general and commissioner in the Pacific, and, again 
returning to Peru, he endeavored, without success, to 
make good his financial claims against the Peruvian 
Government. 

In 1861 he felt that his end was near, and, having been 
taken on board H.M.S. Frigate Naiad, he died, as he had 
earnestly wished, under the British flag. Notwithstand- 
ing his difiiculties with the Government, his popularity 
with the Peruvians seems to have been practically unim- 
paired, for during his illness he was publicly prayed for 
— a very unusual circumstance in the case of a non-Eoman 
Catholic — and, buried in the British cemetery at Lima, 
he was accorded a public funeral. He appears, indeed, 
to have been genuinely mourned. 

No people have proved themselves more generous than 
the South Americans in the erection of monuments to 
their heroes. O'Higgins, Cochrane, Mackenna, Brown, 
and the rest have been very freely honored in this way. 
But Miller lacks his adequate measure of commemorative 
stone — probably for the reason that his services were 
spread over several frontiers and that no country can 
take undivided charge of his fame. 



CHAPTER XI 

BRITISH FIGHTERS IN THE CAUSE OF SOUTH AMERICAN 
INDEPENDENCE 

(m) 

Captain Hall— His friendship with San Martin— San Martin's lofty atti- 
tude — Expression of his views to Captain Hall — Sentiments of a great 
South American patriot — His philosophical temperament — A deck- 
washing episode — Incidents at the fall of Lima — The British fleet on 
the Pacific coast — Popularity of the officers — Part played by them — 
Benavides — Some incidents of a sinister career — The renegade's escape 
from death at the hands of a firing-party — Further betrayals — Bena- 
vides becomes a leader of the fierce Araucanian Indians — Increase of 
his power — He succeeds in capturing British and North American 
whaling ships — His windfalls in men and munitions — Preparations to 
invade Chile — How cavalry trumpets were made — Captain Hall is sent 
to negotiate for the rescue of the British and North American seamen 
— Captain Hall's adventures among the Araucanian Indians — Experi- 
ences at a native orgy — Description of the savage chief Penel^o — A 
dangerous interview — Execution of Benavides — Adventures of Captain 
Roberton — His feud with the Italian desperado Martilini — His home 
on the island of Mocha — His capture by Martilini and subsequent es- 
cape — Martilini, captured by a French vessel, is sent as a prisoner to 
France — Roberton is imprisoned by Bolivar — His escape — Subsequent 
movements of Roberton and Martilini — Cruelties attending a Spanish 
imprisonment — Further atrocities committed by Benavides — Colonel 
O'Carrol and Lieutenant Bayley as victims — Captain Brown finds shel- 
ter on a British warship — The manner in which Colonel Ferguson's 
life was saved — Colonel O'Connor — Dr. Moore — Colonel O'Leary — 
Colonel Wilson — His remarkable journey — A justly popular officer — 
The Scottish captain of the Spanish brig La Vigie — a. determined sailor 
— Improvised ammunition — ^A daring escape — Admiral Brown — His 
early career — He establishes a packet service between Buenos Aires and 
Montevideo — Founder of the Argentine navy — Some naval facts. 

CAPTAIN HALL, as an unprejudiced eye-witness, 
is one of those who have borne the most con- 
vincing testimony to the real greatness of San 
Martin — ^who, by the way, has been referred to by Had- 

214 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 215 

field as of Irish descent, a claim which would seem doubt- 
ful. A warm friendship appears to have sprung up be- 
tween the two men. As Hall watched the chivalry and 
self-effacing genius of San Martin, his admiration deep- 
ened for the man who solemnly declared that when his 
task in the field should be concluded he intended to retire 
from the scene of his glory into private life, and who, to 
the astonishments of the skeptical world, fulfilled his in- 
tentions to the letter! 

San Martin, for his part, spoke very freely to Captain 
Hall. Decidedly he did not permit his quarrels with 
Cochrane to influence his cordial relations with other 
Englishmen. His own aide-de-camp was the very tall 
and stately General O'Brien, who subsequently became 
the Uruguayan consul-general in London. Incidentally 
it may be remarked that O'Brien obtained at least one 
priceless curiosity as a reward of his services; for Mr. 
W. BoUaert relates that in 1859", when in London, that 
the General showed him the large and rich umbrella- 
shaped canopy which used to be held over Pizarro when 
he went in state. This was given to O'Brien when the 
South Americans entered Lima in triumph. 

In the course of one of his conversations with Captain 
Hall, San Martin revealed very fully the reasons for the 
policy which he was then carrying out in Peru. The 
nature of this conquest of Peru, he maintained, differed 
entirely from that of Chile. It was not a war of con- 
quest and glory ; it was a war of new and liberal princi- 
ples-^ainst prejudice, bigotry, and tyranny. No doubt 
San Martin's mind was running at the time upon the 
heated criticism of the impetuous Cochrane, to whom this 
species of campaign was gall and wormwood. ** People 
ask," said San Martin to Captain Hall, **why I don't 
march to Lima at once ; so I might, and instantly would, 
were it suitable to my views — ^which it is not. I do not 
want military renown — I have no ambition to be the con- 
queror of Peru — I want solely to liberate the country 



216 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

from oppression. Of what use would Lima be to me, if 
the inhabitants were hostile in political sentiment ? How 
could the cause of independence be advanced by my hold- 
ing Lima, or even the whole country, in military posses- 
sion? Far different are my views. I wish to have all 
men thinking with me, and do not choose to advance a 
step beyond the gradual march of public opinion. ' ' 

Surely these words, delivered in San Martin's usual 
quiet tones, would in themselves be sufficient to stamp 
their speaker as one of the world's great men. Like his 
brilliant colleague, Bolivar, San Martin was at least as 
much of a philosopher as a soldier. He was keenly alive 
to the value of local influences, and fully appreciated the 
distinctions which geographical situations must impose 
on policy. He was one of the few of his age and race 
who realized the perils which lay in the path of too head- 
long attempt at indiscriminate progress. It was in ref- 
erence to this that he wrote : 

''If all Europe enjoyed the liberty of the English na- 
tion, the greater part of the Continent would writhe in 
chaotic agony; on the other hand, the English nation 
would consider itself enslaved were it governed by the 
Constitution of Louis XVIII. It is right that the Amer- 
ican peoples should be free ; but it is also right that they 
should enjoy their liberty in that proportion which is 
best suited to their needs. A departure from this rule 
would mean the triumph of their enemies." 

The quotation of a last reference to San Martin by 
Captain Hall will show that the General possessed the 
temperament, as well as the words, of a philosopher — a 
combination that is probably rarer than would be im- 
agined. When the final capitulation of Lima was at hand, 
San Martin took up his quarters on a yacht which was 
lying oif Callao. "I had occasion," explains Captain 
Hall, ''to visit him early one morning on board his 
schooner, and we had not long been walking together 
when the sailors began washing the decks. 'What a 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 217 

plague it is,' said San Martin, 'that these fellows will in- 
sist upon washing their decks at this rate. ' — * I wish, my 
friend,' said he to one of the men, 'you would not wet 
us here, but go to the other side.' The seaman, how- 
ever, who had his duty to do, and was too well accus- 
tomed to the General's gentle manner, went. on with his 
work, and splashed us soundly. *I am afraid,' cried San 
Martin, *we must go below, although our cabin is but a 
miserable hole, for really there is no persuading these 
fellows to go out of their usual way. ' ' ' 

Obviously, though San Martin could lead troops and 
win battles, he was no swashbuckler ! 

When the last Spanish stronghold in South America, 
Lima, the ancient capital of the viceroys, was about to 
fall, the inhabitants showed themselves in dire dread of 
the anarchy that they feared would follow the capitula- 
tion. San Martin was very soon able to prove to them 
how complete was his hold over his men, and how rigidly 
he maintained the ethics of law and order. It appears, 
nevertheless, that the anxiety of the Limanians had not 
been without foundation; for, in anticipation of its fall, 
several bands of desperate characters had been hanging 
about the outskirts of Lima. 

When Captain Hall and three companions were riding 
toward Lima, they saw one of these gangs, a dozen strong, 
pull three travelers from their horses and strip them of 
their cloaks. After this, they formed in line across the 
road, and, brandishing their cudgels, awaited the Eng- 
lishmen. 

*'We cantered on, however," says Captain Hall, ''right 
against them, with our pistols cocked and held in the 
air. The effect was what we expected: an opening was 
made for us, and the robbers, seeing their purpose frus- 
trated, turned about, and became suddenly wonderfully 
good patriots, calling out, 'Viva la Patria! Viva San 
Martin!' " 

Perhaps the British commanders on the Pacific coast 



218 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

at the beginning of the nineteenth century merely repre- 
sented typical average specimens of the naval officer of 
that period. If so, the service was as fortunate in her 
men of these days as it has been before, and since. 

John Miller has left us an interesting note concerning 
the esteem with which the British were regarded on the 
Pacific. He says: 

' * Another powerful reason for their preponderating in- 
fluence was the strict observance of the laws of neutrality 
by the English naval commanders, and the honorable, 
straight-forward, courteous, and manly frankness with 
which English naval officers conducted themselves. 
Captains Sir Thomas Staines, Bowles, Shirreff, Falcon, 
Sir Thomas Hardy (now Bear- Admiral), the Hon. Sir 
Robert Spencer, Porter, and many other officers are still 
remembered, and frequently mentioned by South Amer- 
icans in terms of the warmest regard. ' ' 

The part played by these officers on the South Amer- 
ican station was sufficiently varied. Occasionally a cap- 
tain was called upon to serve as an ambassador between 
the contending forces. This occurred in 1814 when Cap- 
tain Hillyar, of H.M.S. Phoebe, sailed from Callao to Val- 
paraiso with proposals to the Chileans from the Viceroy. 
Captain Hillyard then shepherded the patriot delegates 
to Talca, at which place a meeting with the royalists was 
arranged, and a short-lived truce was concluded on the 
5th of May. 

One of the most sinister figures of the War of Libera- 
tion on the Pacific coast was that of Benavides. In fact, 
this creature of incarnate ferocity, bold animal courage, 
and unmitigated villainy was of a type such as is very 
seldom met with outside the pages of those melodramatic 
novels which are designed first to thaw the shillings from 
the public's pocket and then to freeze the blood! 

Benavides 's career was remarkably well filled with in- 
cident. From the word. Go! he plunged headlong into 
iniquity. A deserter from the patriot cause, he was cap- 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 219 

tured by the Chileans at the battle of Maipu. Sentenced 
to be shot", in company with two or three other renegades, 
he retained sufficient presence of mind to feign death 
when severely wounded by the firing squad. Even when 
a sergeant gashed the supposed corpse across the neck 
with his saber, Benavides gave no sign, though the shock 
was severe enough to cause him to carry his head to one 
side for the rest of his life. 

Having recovered from his terrible wounds — by a 
species of superfluous miracle — Benavides managed to 
ingratiate himself with San Martin, and to obtain par- 
don and reinstatement in the Chilean forces. But con- 
stancy had no place in Benavides 's unquiet spirit. Very 
soon afterwards he deserted again to the royalist cause, 
and took up his abode among the terrible Araucanian 
Indian warriors, who at that time were hostile to the 
Chileans. 

The wild Araucanians found in Benavides a leader to 
their taste, and they followed him in many a bloody in- 
cursion into the civilized Southern provinces of Chile. 
Sometimes the Spanish flag would wave over these re- 
lentless marauding bands, as they plunged out of the 
Southern evergreen forests, but more often the standard 
that floated over the massacres was one of Benavides 's 
own devising. 

After a time, his power increasing, Benavides began 
to cast a longing eye on the sea. An ambitious rogue, 
he foresaw that the conquest of the Pacific waters (Coch- 
rane had not yet risen on the horizon) might extend his 
chieftainship into something really approaching a king- 
dom. It is at this point, then, that he is brought into 
contact with the British and Americans. 

Whalers frequently came to an anchor off the moun- 
tainous and wooded coasts of southern Chile, and Bena- 
vides determined that a whaler he would have ! He suc- 
ceeded even beyond his expectations. First of all he 
surprised and captured the American ship Hero; then, in 



220 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

a similar fashion, he took possession of the American brig 
Herselia. His good fortune did not end here. Soon 
afterwards he captured the British whaler Perseverance, 
and, finally, the American brig, Ocean, bearing thousands 
of muskets destined for the patriots, fell into his clutch ! 

Here was Benavides, already more than half way to- 
wards the realization of his wildest dreams ! He had his 
ships, a formidable supply of arms for his Araucanians 
as well as for the British and North American sailors 
whom he had ruthlessly pressed into his service, and the 
gratified Spanish authorities at Chiloe had sent him a 
detachment of officers and men as well as a number of 
field-guns ! 

Benavides now began to prepare his army for the 
serious invasion of Chile. He combined an unusual de- 
gree of ingenuity with sheer savagery. Having first of 
all murdered the captain of the Perseverance for an at- 
tempt at escape, and cut the body of a sailor to pieces for 
the same crime, he set himself to commandeer part of his 
new fleet's equipment for the benefit of his land forces. 
Sails vanished into small pieces — to become trousers for 
his army ! Welded by the reluctant hands of his hapless 
ships' carpenters and new recruits, harpoons grew into 
lances and halberts. Almost every essential of his army 
was obtained in the same way : even cavalry trumpets in 
abundance were obtained by stripping the copper from 
the bottoms of the ships. 

It was the captain of the Herselia who had given this 
last idea to Benavides. A shrewd fellow, he took ad- 
vantage of the glow of incautious pride with which the 
possession of the trumpets filled the dreaded chieftain, 
and contrived, with a number of others, to escape in two 
whale boats, and to bear the news of his comrades' dis- 
tress to Valparaiso. 

We are now brought once more into the company of 
our most admirable Captain Hall, who was ordered south 
in order to attempt the rescue of these British and North 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 221 

American subjects, but not to embroil himself with Bena- 
vides — a sufficiently difficult commission! 

When Hall arrived off Benavides's headquarters he 
found that this worthy, accompanied by some thirteen 
hundred men, including the British and North American 
seamen, had marched to the northeast from that spot. 
Although Hall landed and proceeded in search of him, he 
was not able to light upon Benavides himself, who was 
engaged in his own species of warfare. The British and 
American sailors shortly afterwards made their escape; 
but it was not Hall's fate to return to his ship without 
an adventure, although this was of a quite different order 
to any that he had expected. 

It appeared that a chief of the name of Peneleo, an 
ally of the patriots, had taken prisoner some of Bena- 
vides 's Indians, and, having slaughtered one of the men 
before his wife 's eyes, was about to carry off the widow. 
As the chief's camp was in the neighborhood. Hall de- 
termined to endeavor to rescue the unfortunate woman, 
although he had been warned that his quest would be 
fruitless, as Peneleo ''had scarcely anything human about 
him. ' ' 

Arrived at the Indian camp. Captain Hall and one of 
his officers found themselves in the midst of a native 
orgy, and, incidentally, in a tight corner. His descrip- 
tion of the event is worth quoting : 

''On our entering the court-yard of their quarters, we 
observed a party seated on the ground, round a great tub 
full of wine ; they hailed our entrance with loud shouts, 
or rather yells, and boisterously demanded our business ; 
to all appearance, very little pleased with the interrup- 
tion. The interpreter became alarmed, and wished us 
to retire ; but this I thought imprudent, as each man had 
his long spear close at hand, resting against the eaves of 
the house. Had we attempted to escape, we must have 
been taken, and possibly sacrificed, by these drunken sav- 
ages. As our best chance seemed to lie in treating them 



22g BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

without any show of distrust, we advanced to the circle 
with a good-humored confidence, which appeased them 
considerably. One of the party rose and embraced us in 
the Indian fashion, which we had learned from the gen- 
tlemen who had been prisoners with Benavides. After 
this ceremony, they roared out to us to sit down on the 
ground along with them, and with the most boisterous 
hospitality insisted on our drinking with them ; a request 
which we cheerfully complied with. Their anger soon 
vanished, and was succeeded by mirth and satisfaction, 
which speedily became as outrageous as their displeas- 
ure had been at first." 

The orgy grew rapidly wilder, until the appearance of 
Peneleo himself put the crowning touch to the picture. 
He was rather more drunk tRan the rest : 

**A more finished picture of a savage cannot be con- 
ceived. He was a tall, broad-shouldered man; witli a 
prodigiously large head, and a square-shaped bloated 
face ; from which peeped out two very small eyes, partly 
hid by an immense superfluity of black, coarse, oily, 
straight hair, covering his cheeks, and hanging over his 
shoulders, rendering his head somewhat of the size and 
shape of a beehive." 

Peneleo, surly and hostile, was in a dangerous mood: 
his spear stood only too conveniently to his hand, and 
it was a matter of touch and go whether the questions the 
naval officer asked about the captive woman would not be 
their last. As for the woman herself, she seemed recon- 
ciled to her lot! From the glimpse they obtained of 
her, Peneleo 's peculiar and sinister charm appeared al- 
ready to have wiped away her tears and the memory of 
her late husband ! It may have been this that saved the 
lives of the ofiicers, and let them out of a very serious 
scrape. 

As for Peneleo 's chief, Benavides, he met with his 
deserts on the 12st of February, 1822, when he was at 
length brought to justice, and his lurid career ended. 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 223 

He was dragged from the prison at Santiago in a pannier 
tied to the tail of a mule, and was hanged in the Plaza. 

Even the more disciplined of those Southern Indians in 
the Chilean service were not always the most amiable 
persons to meet. On one occasion when some English 
ships were visiting the port of Talcahuano, they landed 
a force of marines who went through some manoeuvers in 
company with the Indians. When the marines had fin- 
ished, the Indians began their exercises. An eye-witness 
remarked of them that: 

**The lances which they use in real combat are from 
eight to ten feet in length, pointed with iron about two 
feet long ; but for fear of their doing any mischief, these 
lances were left behind at Conception, and in their stead 
they were armed with long sticks or branches of trees. 
They first formed themselves into a line, and their officers 
rode round and round them at full gallop, probably as in 
actual warfare, to remind them of the exploits of their 
ancestors, and animate them to heroic exertion. 

*' Meanwhile, the Indians were sounding the note of 
defiance, a sort of tremulous, soft, melodious cry, pro- 
duced by shaking the flat hand upon the mouth, while 
they utter the tones. Next, the command being given to 
advance to the charge, they drove their horses forward 
at full speed, with protruded lances." 

Afterwards these Indians, having, according to their 
usual custom, drunk, not wisely but too well, became 
truculent to a degree. According to the narrator : 

''When they arrived that same evening at Conception, 
they galloped about the streets till late at night, fighting 
among themselves and terrifying the peaceable inhabi- 
tants. There seems to be a strange mixture of pride and 
meanness in the character of these Indians. The three 
Indian officers who dined in the ward room, complained 
that they were not asked into the cabin, and yet these 
same men asked some of our officers to give them money.** 

From all this it will be evident that the temperament 



224 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

of this branch of the famous Araucanian warrior tribes 
was sufficiently complex. Such episodes suggest the old 
story: that the natives took from the white man his 
worse, rather than his better, traits. 

Undoubtedly the hero of some of the most extraordi- 
nary adventures of the war was Captain Roberton, who 
came out in company with Captain Guise — Cochrane 's 
second in command and eventual successor — to join the 
Chilean navy. The experiences of this daring sailor 
were of the kind such as are very seldom to be met with 
outside vivid and rather out-of-date blood-and-thunder 
paper covers. 

In the course of his career Roberton became involved 
in a blood-feud with an Italian desperado of the name of 
Martilini, once a boatswain in a patriot vessel, who had 
deserted to the enemy. On their first meeting Martilini 
was wounded by Roberton. Shortly after this, with the 
permission of the Chilean Government, Roberton took 
up his abode on the uninhabited island of Mocha. There, 
amid the southern Chilean forests, where the fuchsia and 
the beautiful waxen petals of the copihue flower light up 
the aisles of vegetation, he set up a correspondingly ro- 
mantic household, of the kind classified as irregular. 
Presently Martilini appeared off the island in the pirate 
ship Quintamlla. Roberton, caught at a disadvantage, 
was torn away from his leafy bower, and, flung in irons 
on board the Quintanilla, was reserved for an end of tor- 
ture and death such as is romantic only in print. He 
was preserved from this fate by one of the violent storms 
of those latitudes, which caused his captors to release 
him, and to seek the aid of his expert seamanship. The 
gale having subsided, Roberton made use of his tem- 
porary freedom to escape, and, once clear of the Quin- 
tanilla, sent her commander a message that promised a 
taste of his vengeance on the first opportunity. 

But this never seems to have arisen. Calms and gales 
both played their share in preventing a further meeting 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 225 

between the two enemies, though Roberton pursued his 
quest with the most grim resolution. After a time mis- 
fortune dogged the career of both. Spurred on by some 
mad freak of intoxication — or mere grapeless irresponsi- 
bility — Martilini planked three or four roundshot into 
the side of a French brig-of-war that he was passing, 
trusting to the breeze to carry him safely away from the 
unprepared French vessel ! A sudden calm enveloped the 
Quintanilla — ^just in the way that a lurking enemy leaps 
from an ambush! The result of this was that he was 
borne away as a prisoner to France. 

It was somewhere about this period that Eoberton, 
rashly venturing into the thorny wildernesses of politics, 
fell foul of Bolivar, and — as a fatefuUy ironical conse- 
quence ! — ^was confined in one of those very dungeons in 
Callao for the abolition of which Bolivar, in a greater 
degree, and he himself, in a lesser, had struggled so 
arduously. Eoberton, having no taste for a Callao 
dungeon, escaped in a manner characteristic of him. 
Snatching his opportunity, he came charging out, knocked 
down each sentry that opposed his exit, dashed through 
the main guard with the velocity of a stone shot from a 
catapult, dived into the sea, swam out to a merchantman, 
and got clear away. 

Unfortunately I have no record of the ultimate fate of 
Roberton and of Martilini. Roberton made his way 
southwards again to his loved island of Mocha, in the 
verdurous shades of which he may, or may not, have spent 
the rest of his days. As for Martilini, it is recorded that 
in 1828 he was again in command of a privateer in the 
Pacific. I have a shrewd suspicion that if ever Roberton 
saw the other's topsails above the edge of the waters, he 
betook himself to some intricate forest nook with his 
senora, until a clear horizon told him that he might safely 
return to the lovely ruca that was his romantic — ^but 
draughty — ^home ! 

The fate of those British officers in the South American 



226 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

service whom the royalists succeeded in capturing was 
occasionally of the worst. Captain Esmonde, for ex- 
ample, was very scurvily treated in the dungeons of 
Callao. An act of poetic retribution, however, followed, 
for it was on this account that his brutal jailer, who de- 
sired to establish himself well with the patriots at the 
end of the war, failed to regain his Peruvian estates. 
There are several instances, too, of a captivity in irons 
sufiSciently lengthy to lay the bones of the sufferers bare. 
But Benavides and his band of Araucanian freebooters 
went far beyond anything committed by the royalist regu- 
lars in the way of atrocities. Among other barbarities 
inflicted on Colonel 'Carrol, Lieutenant Bayley, and 
other officers who fell into the hands of these, was that of 
having their tongues cut out. 

There were occasions, naturally, when the British Pa- 
cific squadron found itself influenced by motives of hu- 
manity rather than by the icy reasoning of pure neu- 
trality. Thus when Captain Brown of the Argentine 
navy — ^who had been captured when in command of the 
Maippo brig, and who had for a year lain under sentence 
of death — escaped to a British warship, he found sanc- 
tuary there; notwithstanding the angry protests of the 
viceroy, who ''proved by precedents commencing in the 
year of our Lord 1499, and ending Anno Domini 1808, 
that the British commander had overstepped the boun- 
daries marked out by international law." 

On another occasion the life of Colonel Ferguson, one 
of the British aide-de-camps whom Bolivar delighted to 
have on his staff, in his Southern campaign, was only 
saved owing to the chance presence of a boat's crew of a 
British man-of-war. Kemarking the unusually fair skin 
of one of a party of patriot prisoners drawn up for execu- 
tion on the beach, one of the sailors ran up to him, and, 
discovering that he was an Irishman, brought his officer 
in haste to the spot. In this case the Spanish authorities 
must have been in a complaisant mood, for, as a result of 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 227 

the officer's intercession, they did not hesitate to com- 
mute the sentence on the spot. Ferguson appears to 
have been a very gallant officer, and met his death when 
defending Bolivar during the outbreak of a conspiracy in 
September, 1828. 

Some other officers of Bolivar's, who do not come 
within the scope of the operations previously referred 
to, may be mentioned here. Among these was Colonel 
O'Connor, a gallant Irish, who raised a regiment at 
Panama, and brought it to Peru, where he became notice- 
able for his bravery. 

Bolivar — whose devoted body-surgeon was Dr. Moore, 
an Irishman — showed his predilection for the British by 
the manner in which he employed them on his staff. An- 
other of his aides-de-camp, by the way, was Colonel 
O'Leary, who from the age of seventeen had fought in 
the cause of South American independence, being pres- 
ent at every engagement of importance that was fought 
in Colombia, in the course of which campaign he received 
several wounds. He was frequently entrusted with im- 
portant diplomatic missions. 

A third British aide-de-camp was Colonel Belford Wil- 
son, who, educated at Westminster and Sandhurst, was 
among the finest and most promising of the British com- 
batants in South America. His qualities were fully ap- 
preciated by Bolivar, who singled him out for various 
special missions, one of these being the bearing of the 
Constitution drawn up for the new Republic of Bolivia. 
In the course of his journey Wilson covered the eighteen 
hundred miles between Lima and Chuquisaca in nineteen 
days, and returned by a slightly longer route in the same 
number of days ! 

Wilson, it may be said, was exceptionally popular with 
all his brother officers, of whatever nationality they might 
be. One of his actions may be quoted as giving a clue 
to the secret of this general esteem. Having been made 
colonel at a very youthful age, he refused for a time to 



228 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

receive the rank, pleading that this very early promotion 
was unfair to his comrades. In the end it was only in 
obedience to Bolivar's express orders that he gave way 
on the point. 

To turn for a moment to the opposite pole of affairs, 
among the four British subjects who fought on the Span- 
ish side in the War of Independence was a very deter- 
mined Scotsman who commanded the royalist brig La 
Vigie. He espoused the Spanish cause, it appears, not 
on account of any political convictions, but in order to 
avenge some losses he had sustained at the hands of the 
patriots. 

The name of this adventurous seaman does not appear 
to have emerged from the chaos of events with which it 
was associated, but his deeds made a sufficient impres- 
sion at that time. In the course of a gallant but most 
uneven fight with the Chilean warship Congreso, com- 
manded by Captain Young, having used up every shot in 
his locker, he continued to blaze away marline-spikes, 
nails, and bits of iron, until he had cleared his vessel of 
the last hope of anything in the way of a missile ! Then, 
under a heavy fire, he made for the shore in a boat. 

A search party of marines from the Congreso followed 
him, and came upon him concealed in a house. On this 
the intrepid Scotsman knocked down the officer of marines 
and two of the privates, and escaped at the expense of a 
severe bayonet wound. After this meteoric outburst of 
deeds his personality fades away into the unknown. 

Presumably some day or other the status of many of 
the lesser lights among the historical personages of South 
America will become fixed. Decidedly the process will 
be anything but a simple one in view of the extraordinar- 
ily sharp divergences that are revealed in the contem- 
porary opinions. 

Admiral Brown affords one of the numerous instances 
of this, even though his personality is too important to 
be included among those lesser lights I have referred to. 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 229 

The leading figure among the sailors of the young Argen- 
tine navy, he is spoken of in terms of unstinted admira- 
tion not only by the Argentine and Chilean chroniclers 
of the period, but also by all the British who happened 
to be residing at the time in the neighborhood of the 
river Plate. 

Yet at this same period Brown is referred to by the 
Rev. R. Walsh, a most enlightened and liberal-minded 
clergyman resident in Brazil, in a totally different man- 
ner. Walsh terms Brown a pirate, and alludes to him 
thus in no abusive sense, but with the calm detachment 
proper to an uncontrovertible fact ! 

William Brown, who became an admiral in the Argen- 
tine service, adds one more to the long list of Irishmen 
who fought in the patriot cause. Born in county Mayo in 
1777, he went to sea in his early boyhood, and after many 
strenuous years the ship in which he was serving, the 
Eliza, was wrecked at Ensenada at the mouth of the Rio 
de la Plata. So far as Brown was concerned, this was a 
blessing, very much in disguise, for it led him to the 
threshold of his future career. 

The young Irishman determined to remain where fate 
had cast him. In a remarkably short time his enterprise 
had established a packet service between Buenos Aires 
and Montevideo, and he had become the owner of the 
schooner Industria. 

Then the War of Independence broke out into full 
flame, and the new Buenos Aires authorities, casting 
about them for a man who should found and fight a navy, 
offered the post to Brown. He accepted without hesita- 
tion, was given captain's rank, and devoted himself to his 
task with enthusiasm. 

Brown's first squadron was inevitably of an impro- 
vised order, but it was with such materials as he had got 
together that he destroyed the greatly superior Spanish 
fleet off Montevideo in May, 1814, and thus brought about 
the surrender of the city. After this, seeing that there 



230 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

remained scarcely anything for him to do in the Atlantic, 
Brown prepared a squadron with which to harry the 
Pacific coast. This consisted of the 20-gun brigantine 
Hercules, commanded by his brother Michael, in which he 
sailed as commodore, and the 16 gun-brigantine Trini- 
dad, commanded by his brother-in-law, Walter Chitty. 
These were followed by a subsidiary squadron compris- 
ing the Halcon and the lugger Urihe, manned entirely by 
Chilean refugees and Argentines. The first three vessels 
flew the Argentine flag, but the little Urihe, thirsting to 
avenge the disaster of Eancagua, sported the black flag 
in token of war to the death. But this grim standard 
was destined never to float over the waters of the Pacific ; 
for the stormy water of Cape Horn swallowed it up with 
the vessel that bore it. 

The remaining vessels boldly proceeded to blockade 
Callao, making various captures and causing great alarm 
all along the Pacific coast. After this they set sail for 
the north, and in the middle of February, 1816, they ap- 
peared off the port of Guayaquil. Having stormed the 
fort which guarded the mouth of the port, the expedition 
sailed up the river, and engaged the main fort of San 
Carlos. Here the Trinidid ran aground, and, finding her- 
self helpless, was obliged to surrender. Brown, who 
chanced to be on board that vessel, had already stripped 
himself naked, and had plunged into the sea in order to 
swim to the Halcon, when he perceived that those who re- 
mained on the Trinidad were being slaughtered by the 
Spaniards. 

Brown turned in the water, and swam back to the Trini- 
dad. He clambered up the ship's side unperceived, and 
in stealthy haste made his preparations. Then, stark- 
naked, a sword in one hand and a lighted torch in the 
other, he rushed to the magazine, and threatened to blow 
up the ship and all on board unless the Spaniards gave 
quarter to his men. The appalled Spaniards held their 
hands, and the gallant Brown and his men were taken 



SOUTH AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 231 

ashore as prisoners. Brown himself was immediately 
exchanged for the Governor of Quayaquil, who had been 
captured just previously. 

It may be said that Brown's vessel, the Hercules, was 
eventually taken in charge by a British man-of-war, and 
was condemned at Antigua on account of a violation of 
the navigation laws. 

The remainder of Brown's career was concerned with 
the internal wars of a later period of South American 
history, and we shall meet with him again in another 
chapter. 



PAET III 

SOUTH AMERICA IN THE EAELY PART 
OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 



CHAPTEE XII 

THE FIEST BRITISH RELATIONS WITH THl NEW 
REPUBLICS 

Naval chroniclers — Shrewdness of their comments — Respective situations on 
the Atlantic and on the Pacific — Popular captains — Petition of British 
residents — The Lima theater — Captain Basil Hall — A friend of San 
Martin — His intercourse with the Argentine Liberator — Pen-pictures 
of the Pacific coast — H.M.S. Briton — Some experiences of her ships' 
company — A humorous episode at Piura — H.M.S. Cambridge transports 
British consuls to South America — Tragic end of one of these officials — 
Various episodes related by the chaplain of the Cambridge — Some 
notable names and characters ashore — ^Sunset is delayed for an hour 
when Bolivar dines on board the Cambridge! — Some local biils-of-fare 
— Profuse hospitality of the South Americans — Part played by British 
merchants — Episode at an official ball at Valparaiso — One of the trage- 
dies of a defimct regime — ^Manner in which Bolivar was received at a 
ball given by a British merchant — Bolivar's coimtry house near Bogota 
— ^Views of an ex-official of the suppressed Inquisition — Petition of a 
cock-fighting monk — His letter to Lord Derby — Growth of British popu- 
lation in Valparaiso — Missionary and scholastic enterprise — A bur- 
lesque mutiny and its consequences — Experience of an American mer- 
chant on the Pacific coast — Judge Prevost and his unfortunate joke — 
Some mining incidents — Interest evinced in London — Bolivar as an ex- 
pert — End of the "boom" — Surveying on the South American coast — 
The voyage of the Chanticleer — Death of Captain Foster — Improvement 
in sea food — Origin of the term "Gringo" — ^A Chilean explanation. 

WE are largely indebted to that small band of 
British naval men stationed on the Pacific 
coast at the time of the War of Independence 
for a knowledge of the more intimate — and consequently 
more interesting — details of the social and political 
events. 

The reason why so few accounts have come down to ns 
in the English language of the events, manners, and 
customs of the river Plate countries in the earliest years 
of their independence, is neither political nor commercial. 

235 



236 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

It is sheerly geographical, and consists in the muddy 
shoals — at that time innocent of any dredger — which 
caused the visits of British warships to be comparatively 
rare, and thus failed to remedy the lamentable lack of 
naval note-takers. 

It was these shrewd naval observers who marked how, 
when the establishment of the patriot government had be- 
come assured in any district, the costume and customs 
of the inhabitants altered as if by magic. They noted 
how the primitive local garments of the ladies, and the 
cloaks of the men disappeared, to give place to European 
fashions. They have referred, too, to the assured and 
confident air that now followed the former appearance 
of trouble and distrust. They watched the quick growth 
of national pride, the phenomenal springing up of com- 
merce, and the rapid founding of the schools, libraries, 
and centers of arts. 

They noticed with admiration, too, that, wherever the 
patriot flags were unfurled, two institutions — ^bull-fight- 
ing and slave-trading — immediately died away. Indeed, 
there were not lacking those who asserted that the un- 
usually brutal exhibitions of bull-fighting at Lima formed 
part of the viceregal plan for the mental treatment of the 
colonists. But those from whom these statements eman- 
ated were almost certainly carried away by their anti- 
royalist sentiments. 

It is, of course, impossible to refer individually even to 
those of the most notable group of British naval officers 
who served in the Pacific at this period. Nevertheless, 
Captain Thomas Brown who sailed out in 1823 in the 
42-gun frigate Tartar to South America deserves some 
special mention for the extraordinary popularity that he 
enjoyed on the part of both Spaniards and South Ameri- 
cans. 

Before the departure of the Tartar from the South 
American station, Captain Brown received from Bolivar 
a portrait of himself which he had taken the trouble to 



FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 237 

send all the way from Alto Peru, where the Liberator 
was then engaged. At Callao, on the other hand, that 
gallant and stern soldier General Rodil, Spain's last hope 
in South America, and Bolivar's greatest enemy, refused 
Brown leave to purchase ship 's stores, adding that, as a 
mark of his friendship and esteem, the British captain 
must consent to accept as a gift anything that his ship 
required. What more varied and striking testimony of 
a true popularity could there be ! 

Another British commander whose personality cannot 
well be overlooked was Captain Bowles, who played a 
sufficiently important part on the Atlantic station. A 
testimonial was drawn up at Buenos Aires on the 24th of 
March, 1814, **to express to you the very high esteem with 
which your conduct has impressed us, and to offer you our 
most grateful thanks for the constant and efficacious pro- 
tection you have afforded to the British interests." 

This is signed by ** John Nightingale, George Dyson, R. 
Montgomery, Robert Orr, G. T. Dickson, John M'Neill, 
James Brittain, James Barton, H. Chorley, J. Thwaites, 
Joshua Rawdon, J. Boyle, W. Wanklyn, W. Stroud." 
And to a document in connection with a presentation 
made to this officer six years later in Buenos Aires were 
attached the signatures, '^Rich. Carlisle, G. T. Dickson, 
WiU. Cartwright." 

In those early and troublous days of South America, 
when it was inevitable that the foreigner should suffer 
from time to time between the grinding wheels of patriot 
and Spaniard, the presence of a British vessel in a port 
was undoubtedly a comfortable feature to the new Brit- 
ish settlers on the South American coast. 

At the foot of a petition that ** before the Indefatigable 
leaves these seas she may be replaced by another vessel 
of war, if it be not incompatible with his Majesty's 
service," drawn up in Valparaiso on the 27th of March, 
1815, occur eight signatures which presumably are those 
of some of the most prominent British merchants then 



238 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

in the town. These are: Colon Campbell, Jno. Jas. 
Barnard, N. Crompton, George Cood, Andrew Blest, John 
Blest, T. Beetenson, and James Ingram. 

These British naval men were, of course, the only spec- 
tators who obtained a clear and impartial view of the 
social situation before and after the revolution. Many 
of the changes came about with a surprising suddenness. 
So far as the theater was concerned, for instance, the 
transformation of the audience seems to have been as 
dramatic as anything which occurred on the stage. Here 
is the description of one of these naval eye-witnesses, of 
the Lima theater : 

'*In the evening there was a play, but the people we 
had been wont to see there before the revolution were 
all gone; and their places occupied by Chilian officers, 
and by English, American, and French merchants, to- 
gether with numberless pretty Limenas, a race who smile 
on all parties alike. The actors were the same, and the 
play the same, but everything else — dress, manners, lan- 
guage — ^was different: even the inveterate custom of 
smoking in the theater had been abolished by a public 
decree." 

To my mind, as I have already said, the most outstand- 
ing of the records of the Pacific coast during the last 
period of the War of Liberation and the first few years 
of the independence are those of Captain Basil Hall. 
Hall reveals himself as an admirable type of the British 
sailor, and it is clear that his kindly geniality won for him 
as much popularity as his firmness gained him respect. 

Enjoying as he did the intimate friendship of San 
Martin, the great Argentine would unbosom himself to 
him of his hopes and fears, plans and ideals. Much has 
been written of late of San Martin, and it is a little diffi- 
cult to understand why Hall's first-hand and intimate 
testimony has been so seldom referred to. The British 
sailor's admiration for San Martin was by no means 
universally shared at the time it was evoked. There 



FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 239 

were many who doubted — and, after all, this doubt was 
not so unnatural a thing in those who did not know the 
General — the sincerity of San Martin's statements that 
he desired all for his country, nothing for himself. But 
Hall was not among those who doubted. His fervid pen- 
picture of the Liberator was justified to the full by sub- 
sequent events, when San Martin, having achieved his 
great work, voluntarily descended from his pinnacle in 
the full blaze of publicity, and entered private life — and, 
incidentally, an oblivion, from the tragedy of which his 
name was not drawn until more than half a century later. 

Captain Hall has provided a set of pictures of the 
life of the Pacific coast which are in many respects unique. 
Moreover, whether he were chatting with San Martin, 
being entertained ashore, protecting British interests, ne- 
gotiating between royalists and South Americans, or fac- 
ing a hostile Spanish mob at Callao, as was once his lot, 
he appears to have risen to the occasion with the most 
admirable equanimity. 

The complications which the British naval officers on 
the South American station had to face during the first 
year or two of the War of Independence were not light- 
ened by the fact that we were at the time at war with the 
United States. 

In the course of this the United States frigate Essex 
worked considerable damage to the British whale fishery 
in the Southern seas, and at the end of 1813 H.M. frigate 
Briton, 38 guns, was ordered to the Pacific to endeavor 
to meet with the American vessel. 

The Briton did not meet with the Essex (this vessel, 
after a desperate resistance, having already been cap- 
tured by the Phoebe and Cherub), although she spoke with 
some of the whaler captains who had been victims of the 
American frigate's raid, and, among some green bushes 
at Chatham Island, found the tomb of a Lieutenant 
Cowen, one of the Essex's officers, who had fallen in a 
duel with a brother officer named Gramble. 



240 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

The Briton's company saw a good deal of the Pacific 
coast. When lying off Callao, they saw much of the good 
people of Lima, and this is what Lieutenant John Shil- 
libeer, in command of the marines, has to say of them: 
*'The ladies being pretty, and possessing a more 
than ordinary share of interesting vivacity, we were 
led so imperceptibly to the point of departure, that it 
had arrived before we could have hoped it had half 
elapsed/' 

This is well meant, but almost as involved as the morals 
of a lady who, at the Northern port of Piura, came off 
with a number of others to visit the Briton. In 1814 the 
rage for collecting souvenirs from visiting warships had 
not reached its height, so her action in pocketing a certain 
amount of the Briton's silver proved that her ideas an- 
ticipated the times. She was obviously confused when 
the Captain's steward retrieved from her capacious 
pockets a silver knife and other objects of the kind. 
Nevertheless, there seem to have been circumstances 
which made this appropriation rather out of the ordinary. 
**It may be urged in extenuation of her fault," gravely 
explains Shillibeer, **that Lord Anson, at his visit there, 
had played a trick or two on the family from which she 
was descended." 

Could Anson only have foreseen one of the results of 
his famous voyage! 

In 1823 H.M.S. Cambridge set out for South America, 
having on board four British consuls, Messrs, Rowcroft, 
Nugent, Parish, and Hood, who were appointed respec- 
tively to Lima, Valparaiso, Buenos Aires, and Mon- 
tevideo. Each of these officials was provided with two 
vice-consuls. Doubtless the South American squadron 
was not ill-pleased when British consuls were appointed 
to the Pacific coast, for, until the advent of those useful 
agents, all official matters and commercial difficulties 
which cropped up between the South Americans and the 
British had to be adjusted by the British naval com- 



FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 241 

mander-in-chief, who thus, whether he would or not, 
became a Jack-of-all-trades, ashore as well as afloat. 

All the consuls reached their destinations safely, but 
Mr. Eowcroft met his end under tragic circumstances very- 
soon after he had taken up his post. He had been din- 
ing on board the Cambridge, and was anxious to return 
to Lima after nightfall. He had been warned that this 
attempt would be dangerous, since the uniform of the city 
of London cavalry which he wore somewhat resembled 
that of a Spanish officer, for which it might easily be mis- 
taken in the dark. But the unfortunate official deter- 
mined to set out, and the predicted catastrophe occurred. 
The patriot guard, making certain that it was a Spaniard 
advancing toward them, fired, and Eowcroft died the 
next morning from his wounds. 

It may be remarked here that, although Great Britain 
had appointed her consuls to most of the new republics 
as early as 1823, some time was destined to elapse before 
the weight of full diplomatic relations was added. The 
first envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to 
be appointed was Mr. Alexander Cockburn who was sent 
to Colombia in 1826. After this Sir E. Ker Porter was 
appointed charge d'aif aires to Venezuela in 1835; in 1837 
Mr. W. Wilson proceeded in a similar capacity to Bolivia. 

The diplomatic equipment of the entire continent soon 
followed, with the result that South America was no 
longer regarded as a collection of experimental groups of 
humanity but as a gathering of friendly states, each of 
which was rapidly growing in importance. 

To the chronicles of Miller, Cochrane, and Hall might 
well be added those of the chaplain of H.M.S. Cambridge, 
who modestly writes under the initials H. S. His pages 
are few and small, but they are filled with most interest- 
ing matter. Among the personages he met was the Span- 
ish General Eodil, who came to dine on board the Cam- 
bridge shortly after the fall of Callao — a stronghold which 
he had defended with a tenacity in the face of hopeless 



242 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

odds such as none but a man of his extraordinary de- 
termination and courage could have exhibited. It was 
Rodil who, for month after month, maintained the spirit 
of the diseased and starving garrison. His methods were 
occasionally relentless and bloodthirsty ; but he himself at 
all times set the highest example of courage and watch- 
fulness. His activities were ceaseless by day and by 
night, and he was invariably to be found at the point of 
danger. When the inevitable end drew near, Rodil ate 
and slept on the parapets, never once entering his quar- 
ters, while his beard, for want of shaving, grew long upon 
his face. What an heroic figure would have been Rodil 's, 
had he served a victorious cause ! 

It is the chaplain of the Cambridge who relates how, 
at the hauling down of the Spanish ensign at Callao, Cap- 
tain Simpson, of the Peruvian navy, stood near the in- 
domitable Rodil, and remarked that the Spanish gen- 
erial's face remained impassive, and that he even smiled 
slightly — as well he might in the consciousness of a duty 
so heroically, if ruthlessly, done. 

It is he, too, who gives us a wealth of such instructive 
paragraphs as the following: "We reached Santiago 
about two o 'clock. Lord Byron and I drove to the house 
of the agent for the Chilean Mining Association, where 
we found a hearty welcome and invitation to fix our abode 
during our stay in the place. We dined at the English 
inn, and in the evening went to visit at the house of 
Admiral Blanco. Here I met with Martin de la Vega, 
an old man of eighty-four, who dances at all the tertulias ; 
he is chaplain in the army ; and before I had known him 
half an hour, he told me, I am the man mentioned by 
Captain Hall, in his book on South America. ' ' 

Here is another fragment that introduces a number of 
sufficiently notable names: ''This evening I rode up to 
Lima in the stage coach which has been lately established, 
in company with Grillespie. I established myself in Mrs. 
Walker's hotel, near the Church of San Augustin. The 



FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS M3 

next morning I called on General O'Higgins, who very 
obligingly invited me to dine with him. General Sands, 
an Englishman, who has been nine years in the Colombian 
service, and Mrs. Houston were of the party. Gen. 
O'Higgins 's mother, a pleasant lively old woman, and his 
sister, a lady apparently about fifty, dined with us. The 
conversation was various and most agreeable, and the 
dinner sumptuous, and dressed much in the English 
stile." 

On one occasion, when Bolivar was dining on board 
H.M.S. Cambridge, the boats had been ordered at sunset. 
So agreeable did the entertainment prove that the British 
commander, possibly bearing Joshua in mind, gave orders 
that the sun was not to set until half an hour after its 
usual time. And the sun obeyed — so far as the ship's 
routine was concerned! When the Liberator in his 
gorgeous uniform descended the gangway at the hour of 
official sunset the dusk had fallen, and the stars had be- 
gun to shine ! On this occasion his appearance was thus 
described: ''His countenance seems open, and his con- 
versation lively and unassuming ; but his whole figure and 
face are those of a man worn out with care and toil." 

Bolivar made evident his appreciation of the Cam- 
bridge's entertainment by a slight testimonial which he 
sent on board the next day. Ten bullocks and fifty sheep ! 
Even in those days there was nothing niggardly in South 
American courtesies ! 

Indeed, this generous species of hospitality was illus- 
trated in a remarkable fashion even at a dinner given by 
the local priest. Here the meal was ushered in by vermi- 
celli soup and boiled fowl; after which came "two dishes 
of boiled meats, beef, tongue, and a fat ham, all mixed to- 
gether, and surrounded with vegetables, pumpkin, cab- 
bage, and potatoes." To top up this profusion arrived 
a roast turkey and a dish of baked cream ! One is con- 
strained to believe that this was not the good cura's 
normal fare ! Let it be added that at a dinner at another 



244 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

establishment two turkeys were brought to the table, the 
one hot, and the other cold, both ornamented with sweet- 
meats and gold leaf. 

It must not be imagined that the civilian element had 
played no part in the stirring events of the day. Mr. 
John Miller, who wrote the ' ' Memoirs of General Millar, ' ' 
freely acknowledges the various services rendered by the 
British mercantile community of the Pacific coast to the 
South Americans. He cites the case of some English 
merchants who joined the patriot cavalry in the charge at 
Maipii — the most conspicuous of these being Messrs. 
Samuel Haigh and James Barnard. He mentions, too, 
cases of private benevolence and friendly offices. 

But it was another matter, protests Mr. Miller, when it 
came to hard and fast business — ^when the justice of the 
respective claims of the patriot or royalist causes were 
apt to become diminished in importance before the per- 
sonal considerations involved in the questions of per- 
centage and profit. This may well have been so. The 
community would not have been the first to drown senti- 
ment in financial success ! 

The attention of the average person who troubles him- 
self about this period is so apt to be taken up by the 
spectacle of the patriot victories and of the triumphant 
vindication of their rights that one is apt to forget that, 
the more brilliant the light, the darker the shade. Much 
has been heard of the Spanish haughtiness and arrogance ; 
but there was the other side of the picture. Captain Hall 
gives us a pathetic glimpse of this in his description of 
an elaborate official ball at Valparaiso — an entertainment 
at which the Chilean ladies appeared in the most magnifi- 
cent toilettes. But Captain Hall happened to look into a 
side chamber, where lurked the skeleton of the feast. 
This is what he saw: 

**I was struck by the appearance of several lady-like 
young women standing on chairs and straining their eyes, 
as they looked over the heads of the servants and musi- 





BRITISH SOUTH AMERICANS 




A BRITISH SOUTH AMERICAN ON HIS RANCHO 



FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 245 

cians to catch a glimpse of the strangers in the ballroom, 
from which they appeared to be excluded. Seated on a 
sofa in the corner near them were two stately old ladies, 
simply though elegantly dressed, who did not appear to 
sympathize with their children in eagerness about the 
ball, but sat apart quietly conversing together. In their 
countenances, which retained traces of considerable 
beauty, there dwelt a melancholy expression; while their 
demeanor indicated an indifference to all that was pass- 
ing. On enquiry, it appeared that they were old Span- 
iards, who, under the former administration of the coun- 
try, had been persons of wealth and consequence, but 
whose existence was now scarcely known." 

While on the subject of these entertainments, we may 
skip a few years, and remark on one which took place in 
Peru. On New Year's day of 1825 an English merchant 
in Lima gave a ball in honor of Bolivar and of the battle 
of Ayacucho. This was a very full-dress affair, a strong 
band being in attendance, and bunting flying freely. At 
one end of the ballroom was a full-length portrait of 
Bolivar, done on canvas, while a similar likeness of Sucre 
adorned the opposite wall. 

When Bolivar entered the room there was considerable 
acclamation, the orchestra striking up the Colombian na- 
tional air. It is to be hoped that this portrait of Bolivar 
was a success, for the sake of the Liberator, for to be 
confronted all the evening by a libellous replica of one- 
self must be depressing even to a person of such indomi- 
table spirit as Bolivar! Considering the almost certain 
absence of any really capable artist in those stirring 
times, one is inclined to fear the worst. Bolivar, how- 
ever, could not have been much disconcerted, for after 
supper he waltzed with a young lady of Lima. 

It may interest admirers of Bolivar to learn that the 
General possessed a very pretty country house at the 
foot of a picturesque ravine in the neighborhood of 
Bogota. In this pleasant, verandaed building, set in the 



246 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

midst of the forest, and surrounded by gardens laid out 
in the French style, Bolivar was wont to entertain his 
friends at numerous dinner parties. Here, according to 
a contemporary authority, he appeared to great advan- 
tage, "evincing the good humor and urbanity of his dis- 
position, though never descending from his finished, gen- 
tlemanly manner." 

Occasionally when the old order came into collision 
with the new, the result was tragic, as when, for instance, 
the old Spaniards found themselves deprived not only of 
their property and social position but of their homes. 
Just as often the upshot had its ludicrous side. Delu- 
sions were apt to be shattered on either side. The pop- 
ular notion, for instance, that the officials of the Inquisi- 
tion were of necessity callously hypocritical as well as 
cruel in the exercise of their grim duties is not always 
borne out by a closer acquaintance with these men. A 
minor instance of this occurred at Lima, just after the 
abolition of the Inquisition at that place. One of the ex- 
priests of that much dreaded institution happened to find 
himself in company with some Englishmen who were din- 
ing, and after an acquaintance had been struck up he 
turned to an acquaintance, and exclaimed in genuine dis- 
tress : * ' Oh ! What a pity it is that such fine rosy-look- 
ing, good young men, should all necessarily and inevitably 
go to the Devil!" 

Another curious character of the Pacific coast at this 
period was a monk who was passionately addicted to cock- 
fighting. Having made the acquaintance of the chaplain 
of H.M.S. Cambridge, he begged the latter to write to 
Lord Derby, whose breed he had heard was the best in 
England, in order to ask for four fighting-cocks and as 
many hens ! 

In the end he himself compiled a letter to Lord Derby, 
and demanded the favor in a collection of most ingenu- 
ous sentences. Whether the epistle ever reached Lord 
Derby I do not know. 



FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 247 

All this time, of course, society was consolidating it- 
self in the more important towns of the Pacific coast. 
The South Americans rapidly adapted themselves to the 
liberal notions of existence which now prevailed, and the 
intercourse between them and the British continually de- 
veloped. The importance of the immigration of these 
latter may be gathered from the fact that in 1823 the 
British population of Valparaiso, which at the time con- 
tained some ten thousand inhabitants, amounted to no 
less than a thousand. In the meantime a Mr. Thompson, 
a missionary, founded Lancasterian schools at Buenos 
Aires, Montevideo, and Santiago. He subsequently, 
about 1821, founded a fourth at Lima. It is noteworthy 
of remark here that, although he met with considerable 
opposition in Peru, he received the hearty support of the 
clergy and monks. 

Lancastrian schools were established, too, in Colom- 
bia and Venezuela almost before the North was liberated, 
one of the first being at Cartagena. 

An even bolder flight of enterprise was initiated in 
1823, when another missionary caused the New Testa- 
ment to be translated into Quichua, the language of the 
ancient and modern Peruvian Indians. 

No picture of this kind, of course, could be without its 
reverse. A quaint Northern instance of the confusion 
and mental giddiness into which too powerful and rapid 
a dose of liberty had flung the inhabitants of many of the 
districts is related by a naval officer with some humor: 

**0n Christmas Eve, at the time we were sailing up 
the river, the whole army of the State of Guayaquil, con- 
sisting of one regiment, marched out of the town, and 
having taken up a position half a league off, sent in a 
message at daybreak to the Governor, to say that they 
were determined to serve under no other flag than that 
of Bolivar ; and unless they were indulged in this matter, 
they would instantly set fire to the town. The Governor, 
with the good sen^e and prudence of utter helplessness, 



248 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

sent his compliments to the troops, and begged that they 
would do just as they pleased. Upon the receipt of this 
civil message, one half of the regiment were so much 
pleased with having the matter left to their own free 
choice, and being rather anxious, perhaps, for their break- 
fast, which was waiting for them, agreed to relinquish 
the character of rebels, and come quietly back to their 
allegiance. ' ' 

It is on such Gilbertian foundations as these that many 
Englishmen build up their conception of South America 
of to-day ! For, all that, it is true enough that the early 
nineteenth century provided plenty of instances of the 
kind throughout the continent. That the temperament 
of the South American need not of necessity be mercurial 
was discovered somewhat to his cost by a North Ameri- 
can merchant who in the early 1820 's landed thirteen 
arrohas of sugar at the port of Chorillos on the Peruvian 
coast. To his dismay he found that the peasants em- 
ployed to carry the goods from the beach to the town in- 
sisted on pocketing a proportion of the sugar. Nothing 
would stop them. The scandalized merchant beat the 
men with his fists until he had to cease for the simple 
reason that his knuckles were worn out. They took his 
blows with perfect stolidity, accepting them in tacit ex- 
change for the sugar, of which they continued to pocket 
what they considered their share with a calm and un- 
breakable resolution? They made no attempt to molest 
their employer, and the American may well have thought 
himself fortunate in emerging from the situation with the 
loss of nothing beyond one out of his thirteen arrohas of 
sugar. 

Among the other incidents of the early days of libera- 
tion there is an amusing story told of a certain Judge 
Prevost, a jocular agent from the United States, who 
was in Buenos Aires in the 1820 's — that period of giddily 
rapid governmental transition. Judge Prevost made a 
habit of stepping on to the balcony of his house every 



FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 249 

morning and of demanding of the first person who would 
chance to pass beneath, ''Who governs to-day?" Little 
things lead to men's undoing, and it was the coincidence 
of meeting a brother wag — ^who replied, "Quien sabef" 
(who knows?) — one fine morning that led to his abrupt 
departure from Buenos Aires. It was Prevost's delight 
to tell this story: it never failed in its reception. Un- 
fortunately for himself he told it once too often, and it 
reached the ears of a governor who was lacking in humor, 
and who was determined to let the official from the United 
States know who was governing that morning ! So poor 
Judge Prevost had orders to depart forthwith, and four 
hours later found himself bound for Chile in the good 
vessel Enterprise, the property of a Mr. Samuel Haigh — 
who has already been mentioned for his gallant assistance 
to the Chilean cause — ^who was himself traveling in the 
ship at the time. 

After this smart reminder of that of which the age was 
still capable, it is time to return to the practical and 
commercial side of the situation. No sooner was Peru 
in the hands of the South Americans and its industries 
and commerce open to the world than an intense excite- 
ment manifested itself in the London mining market. 
The mines of Peru — ^where, incidentally, an Englishman 
of the name of Green was already superintending the 
brand-new coinage at the Lima mint — were calling, with 
the magical name of Potosi written in glittering letters in 
the sky high above all the rest ! 

On 'change in London Town bankers and merchants 
nodded together with the ponderous and chastened wis- 
dom of the financier, their eyes filled with the yellow gold 
of Peru that filtered through the London sunshine, and 
with the silver that blinked more dully through the mist. 

To do them justice, the inhabitants of young independ- 
ent South America tumbled to the situation with a rapid- 
ity which augured well for their future careers as busi- 
ness men. In their eyes it is possible that the mines were 



250 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

of rather less import than the company of important and 
eager gentlemen who were reported to be hastening to 
the spot from London, bearing extraordinary powers and 
authorities to deal in mines on a scale such as mines had 
never been dealt in before! 

So those who had mines prepared to sell them then 
and there, and those who had none prepared to sell some 
one else's — and frequently succeeded in the attempt! 
Never, too, was there such a furbishing up of old and 
exhausted mines, of which, the rights lay by the law of 
the land at the disposal of the first comer ! Local com- 
panies were formed with the object of securing every 
mineral field which might be bought for a song, and 
every effort was made to receive the mine buyers with 
forethought and suitable attention ! 

In due course the commissioners arrived. Once upon 
the scene, several of these turned out to be old friends 
of the local mine-magnates — Englishmen who had taken 
part in the revolution and who, having convinced the Eng- 
lish capitalists of their knowledge of the Peruvian min- 
ing world, now returned to the scene of their former ex- 
ploits, some of them traveling en prince this time, ac- 
companied by secretaries, technical advisers, and valets. 

In London, fed by ardent reports from South America, 
the speculation in these matters grew more and more in- 
tense. Had the worthy investors known the language of 
to-day, they would have declared that their market was 
booming. The shares of one or two of those institutions 
which had sent out the most elaborate commissioners ac- 
tually rose to one hundred times the amount of their 
original value, and had all the appearance of being about 
to continue to soar at the same pace for an indefinite 
period. 

In the meantime Bolivar himself had taken a hand in 
this Peruvian mining enterprise. It is a little difficult 
for the casual historian to associate the romantic figure 
of the Liberator of half South America with any dealings 



FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 251 

of the kind. But when the occasion arose Bolivar showed 
himself as fully alive as any one else to the value of min- 
ing scrip. First of all he rescinded the law which al- 
lowed the first comer to take possession of unworked 
mines — a decree which was subsequently revoked in turn ; 
then he put up for sale the whole of the unappropriated 
mines of Upper Peru. The whole of the unappropriated 
mines of Upper Peru, gentlemen, in one lot ! Going — go- 
ing— ! 

''A million dollars!" bid a syndicate from Buenos 
Aires. *' Twelve hundred thousand!" capped a rival. 
*'A million and a half!" offered Captain Andrews, a 
London commissioner. Bolivar, having cast a wary eye 
over the local market, shook his head. He could do bet- 
ter than that in London, he believed. He named his own 
commissioners, who should make for the financial hub 
of the world. But they got no farther than La Plata. 
By that time the news had arrived that the London min- 
ing balloon had burst with a most painful and costly 
pop! 

Thus in 1825 the South American market knew its first 
panic in London. After the crisis the mining values of 
Peru gradually found their right levels, and a number of 
properties which had been considered as sound were 
found almost worthless, while, on the other hand, many 
which had been held as of little account provided with a 
most gratifying surprise those people who happened to 
be financially interested in them at the time when they 
consented to reveal the value of their contents. 

At this period a great amount of survey work was ac- 
complished by British vessels on the South American 
coast. It is, of course, impossible to follow the details of 
their enterprise, and a few records of a single expedition 
may serve well enough to illustrate the rest. 

In 1828 Captain Henry Foster sailed in H.M.S. sloop 
Chanticleer on a scientific mission to the Southern At- 
lantic — a voyage which has been graphically described by 



252 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the surgeon of the vessel, Mr. W. H. B. Webster. Ar- 
riving at Montevideo, they found the Portuguese garrison 
besieged by the Gauchos, and the surgeon on the occa- 
sion of a landing-party found himself unexpectedly look- 
ing down the muzzle of a carbine which a suspicious 
Gaucho was pointing directly at him. The man must 
have been a formidable person to meet, as, beyond his 
carbine, he was provided with a lasso, a cutlass, and a 
brace of pistols! After a conversation of signs, the 
mind of the Gaucho seems to have been relieved, for he 
made a polite bow, and vanished. 

After this the Chanticleer sailed down to Cape Horn, 
and in the name of King George the Fourth annexed some 
territory, made friends with the Fuegian Indians, and met 
with H.M.S. Adventure, commanded by Captain King. 
At a later period of the cruise the Chanticleer found her- 
self off the Brazilian convict island of Fernando Noronha, 
and the officers bore testimony to the civility and good- 
nature of the convicts who had the free run of the island. 

The voyage ended in a tragedy. Having completed 
some valuable astronomical observations at Panama, Cap- 
tain Foster was returning in a canoe to his ship. Pro- 
ceeding down the historical river Chagres, he leaned 
against an awning, which gave way, precipitating him 
into the water. A young officer and his coxswain in- 
stantly plunged together after him, but the swift cur- 
rent of the stream had sucked the Captain beneath, and 
the grim Chagres Eiver had yet one more catastrophe to 
add to its long list. 

At the time of the Chanticleer's voyage science had al- 
ready begun to play some part in alleviating the fare of 
the sailor and in minimizing the risk of scurvy — a work 
in which Captain Cook had already shown such zeal. 
From the modern point of view progress was compara- 
tively insignificant, as will be evident from a remark of 
the Chanticleer's surgeon: *'It is not very long ago that 
I was shewn in Sir Ashton Lever's museum a piece of 



FIRST RELATIONS WITH NEW REPUBLICS 253 

dried salt-beef ; the shreds of which it was composed ex- 
actly resembled ropeyarn, and, having been round the 
world, it was very properly treasured up as a curiosity.** 

One can picture the shudderings of the advertising 
manager of a present-day food extract on being con- 
fronted with an uncompromising description of this kind. 
But even at that period it was said to be possible to cook 
a joint of Donkin's preserved meat in London and to eat 
it fresh at Cape Horn. Sailors themselves alleged that 
it might be taken right round the world, and be as good 
as ever. This in itself does not seem to suggest a rope- 
yarn texture. No doubt they were easily satisfied in 
those days, and the explanation lies in the **as ever." 

Before forsaking the subject of the sea, we may touch 
on a topic, which at first would seem to have no connec- 
tion with it ! The term * * Gringo ' * is, of course, applied 
with impartial generosity alike to the European in gen- 
eral, or to the North American. But it was made to apply 
in the first place more especially to the Britisher. It cor- 
responds more or less with the "rooinek" of South Amer- 
ica, and has its softer and friendlier counterpart in the 
''new chum" of our own colonies. 

When in Chile, on several occasions I heard the origin 
explained of this word of scanty compliment. Accord- 
ing to my informants of the Pacific coast, it appears that 
the primary source of this was the musical propensities 
of a boat 's-crew of a British ship anchored off a Chilean 
port. The men, it appears, when pulling ashore, across 
the blue waves, trolled out the ballad "Green grow the 
rushes, 0!" in a lusty chorus that in part remained in 
the ears of some Chilean Guazus who happened to be 
listening ashore. Hence the contraction of the first 
words into "Gringo." 

I can only give this story as it was told me by Chilean 
and Englishman alike. Unfortunately there was no date 
attached — ^which omission in itself need not necessarily 
make the tale improbable ! 



254 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Senor Lucio V. Mansilla, however, in his work on * ' Ro- 
zas" maintains that "Grringo" is not an Americanism, for 
wanderers such as the gipsies were known by this name 
in Spain. Other foreigners were distinguished by simi- 
lar nicknames. Thus the Spaniard was known as the 
Godo, and the Italian as the Carcamdn, while the general 
term for a foreigner unused to the saddle was Mattur- 
rango. 



CHAPTEE Xni 

EABLY TEAVELEKS AND TEADEES IN THE EEPUBLICS 

Social conditions in the new South America — The influence of concessions 
— Occupations followed by the first British settlers — ^Wild scope of 
their energies — Some early hotels — Scottish milkmaids — ^Varied circum- 
stances of the pioneers — South America as a Latin continent — Eole 
played by the British — Some questions of shopkeeping — Past and pres- 
ent position — The road to Chile — Experiences of some Cornish miners — 
A combat with a condor — Travel in the Andes — Isolated miners — 
Method of conveyance in the Colombian mountains — The Sillers and 
his revenge — Turbulent priests at Mendoza — One interpretation of the 
advantages derived from the Eevolution — ^The exchange of commodities 
between Britain and South America — Some ill-fated shipments and in- 
congruous objects — Origin of a quaint local custom — ^How a Scotsman 
vindicated his veracity — British pastoralists on South American soil — 
The Indian peril — Methods of attack employed by the aborigines of the 
Pampa — Measures of defense — ^Northern natives — Ravages committed by 
them during the War of Independence — Havoc wrought in the town of 
Santa Marta — A naval day ashore — Experiences of a shooting party — 
The historical lake of Guatavita — Plans for the securing of its treas- 
ure — ^The etory of the Spanish soldier and the golden images — A curi- 
ous Northern custom — Rough sport — An early nineteenth-century Co- 
lombian dinner — Christmas festivities at Bogota — Procedure substi- 
tuted in 1823 for the medieval entertainment — ^Appearance of the 
Northern traveler — The sons of generals Miranda and Wilson — Cap- 
tain B. J. Sullivan — The river voyage of Lieutenant W. Smyth and 
Mr. F. Lowe — Preparations for crossing the continent by stream — 
Departure at the last moment from the Samarang — Assistance re- 
ceived from the Peruvian Government and the British community — 
Start of the expedition — Colonel Althaus — Major Beltran and Lieuten- 
ant Azcarate — Difficulties in connection with the escort — ^An alteration 
of the route is found necessary — The Huallaga River — A launching 
ceremony — The native crews — Aboriginal humor — Prevalence of Brit- 
ish goods — An advance agent of imagination — The Ucayali River — 
Sojourn at a mission establishment — Leave taken from the Peruvian 
officers — How the lack of funds was remedied — Incidents on the final 
voyage — Arrival at ParS. 

265 



256 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

OWING to the nature of its population the tend- 
ency of South American society has always 
worked toward the foundation of a small but bril- 
liant aristocracy at the head of a disproportionately large 
untutored populace. In the south of the continent the 
important immigration from Europe has had the effect 
of supplying the republics of the temperate latitudes with 
a bourgeoisie of weight and influence. But in the first 
quarter of the nineteenth century no such body had come 
into existence in any part of the continent. 

It was largely owing to a misconception of these social 
conditions that the policy of the first British relations 
with the South Americans had very soon to be amended. 
London financiers and merchants drew their impressions 
of the South American from such personalities as Mir- 
anda, Bolivar, San Martin, and Eivadavia, and there were 
many who seemed to consider that these extraordinarily 
gifted men were merely average specimens of South 
American humanity ! 

The inevitable disillusion followed expectations such as 
these. Besides the honorable men of the new republics, 
there were those others — whose total absence from any 
state would automatically unveil a solid Utopia? And for 
such as these no mine in the continent was as profitable 
just then as the dazzling field for the nimble-witted in- 
troduced by the British hunt after industrial concessions ! 
After this the British commercial men — ^like the burned 
child who forgets the pleasant warmth of the fire in the 
pain of a burn — held aloof for a time, until matters be- 
gan to adjust themselves to the actual and practical exist- 
ence of affairs. 

It is clear enough, too, that those British pioneers who 
first settled themselves in the liberated states had not 
gaged the depths of the national forces of their adopted 
lands. t<A. study of the occupations carried on by the Brit- 
ish for the first few years after independence had been 
achieved is instructive. At this period we find that they 



EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 257 

had taken over almost every occupation and profession — 
with an enthusiasm, indeed, that might have applied to 
our own colonies. That they should have given the initial 
impetus to finance and wholesale commerce, and that they 
should have embarked in agriculture and stockbreeding, 
was inevitable. 

Those doctors, too, who came out to assist in the war of 
Liberation, and who remained to continue their work in 
the Southern Continent must have been welcome visitors. 
The state of Spanish medical science at that age may be 
gaged from Eichard Ford's description at an even later 
period of the circumstances of the peninsula, where **A11 
Spaniards are very dangerous with the knife, and more 
particularly if surgeons," and where the wight who falls 
ill is especially unfortunate, as, ''whatever his original 
complaint, it is too often followed by secondary and worse 
symptoms, in the shape of the native doctor ' ' ! 

That the British doctor himself of the early nineteenth 
century is evidenced by a letter of San Martin's, written 
from Mendoza, when he was beginning to formulate his 
plans for the invasion of Chile. In this he remarks that 
''Doctor William Colisberry, who also attended me in my 
illness at Tucuman, assures me that I have not six months 
to live" — a prognostication which, had it been fulfilled, 
must have altered the whole course of South American 
history ! 

But the energies of the British extended far beyond 
such professions as this. We find them as hotel, eating- 
house, and reading-room proprietors. They are seen as 
laundry-folk, market-gardeners, shop-keepers, artisans, 
and coachmen. They founded periodicals in Spanish as 
well as in English, and they frequently served as the 
crews of the river schooners. 

We know that at Montevideo as early as the 1820 's, a 
"respectable ordinary" was kept by a Mr. Caulfield, at 
which most of the English and American merchants 
boarded. At that time no doubt beef was the most pop- 



258 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

ular meat in that establishment, for Mr, W. H. B. Web- 
ster, the surgeon of H.M. sloop Chanticleer, relates that 
the price of the finest beef in the town was Id. per lb., 
though 8d. per lb. was demanded for very indifferent 
mutton. 

At this period, too, an Englishman kept a hotel at 
Santiago in Chile, which was frequently crowded to over- 
flowing by the Cornish miners and others who arrived in 
such numbers when the first short mining boom of this 
part of the Pacific coast was at its height. 

Scarcely, moreover, were the Spaniards driven from 
Lima — and before they were expelled from the neighbor- 
ing part of Callao — ^when one reads of Walker's hotel, 
near the Church of San Agustin, in the Capital of Peru, as 
well as of Oliver's hotel in the same town. In this last 
building, by the way, a British naval chaplain has placed 
it on record that he married one of the first English 
couples to undergo that ceremony in Spanish South Amer- 
ica. Undoubtedly there was more love than learning in 
the match, for each of the couple had perforce to be con- 
tent with making a humble mark in place of a signature. 
Nevertheless, that is no reason why their descendants — 
the name of the original couple not being given — should 
not be millionaires to-day! 

This particular occupation was well enough, but so en- 
thusiastic was the general enterprise that in 1820 a colony 
of Scottish milkmaids was introduced into Buenos Aires 
in order that the luxury of butter should abound at that 
place. Despite many set-backs, owing to the wild state 
of the cows, the Scottish lassies eventually succeeded in 
producing much butter — only to discover that the con- 
temporary local preference for oil remained perfectly 
unshaken ! 

Many of these experiments, as a matter of fact, were 
persisted in, in spite of the warnings of many who real- 
ized the futility of round pegs in square holes. Several 
contemporary writers urged with considerable reason that 



EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 259 

South America of the early nineteenth century was no 
place for the British working man or small tradesman, 
nor would be until some generations had passed away. 
Many returned home to resume their lives in more settled 
surroundings, and to feast their eyes upon a sight for 
which a Cornish mine captain in the midst of the Andes 
once expressed his longing : * ' Them things that do wear 
caps and aprons !" 

Yet, curiously enough, of those who decided to stay on 
and to risk all an astonishingly large proportion made 
their fortunes. How many British have there not been 
in South America who spoke English like a peasant and 
Spanish like a foreign lord ! Men who owned their many 
square leagues and the allegiance of scores of retainers, 
whose services they received with the dignified Spanish 
calm that had become their second nature. 

But in gaining all this they had lost their birthright — 
a possibility which none of them had foreseen when they 
first set foot in the Southern continent. The process was 
gradual and imperceptible, and its conclusion invariably 
saw the man a devoted citizen of the republic whose soil 
he now claimed as his own. As for sons and grandsons, 
every breath that they drew was Latin, and very rightly 
Latin — although I fear that in one or two instances the 
preference was accentuated by an uneasy consciousness 
of their ancestor's modest social position in Europe; 
which is a pity, seeing that this latter was usually a very 
fine fellow. It was here, of course, that the secret lay — 
the key to the situation which had not been grasped by any 
Anglo-Saxon foreigner in the early ages of the era of in- 
dependence. South America, being essentially a Latin 
continent, had to develop on Latin lines. There are more 
roads than one to a state of advanced civilization. The 
Englishman, when he beckons, makes an upward gesture ; 
the Iberian curves his fingers in the oriental downward 
sweep : but the result is the same. 

When it had become plain enough that these new states 



260 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

did not intend to adopt the Anglo-Saxon ideals, it must be 
put to the credit of the British that they realized the ap- 
propriateness of the choice, and set themselves content- 
edly enough to fill those particular roles which the exigen- 
cies of industries, politics, and temperament allotted to 
them. 

Thus in course of time the number of British shop- 
keepers, officials in the pay of the republics, and other 
persons whose occupations became more or less super- 
fluous, diminished while on the other hand, the demands of 
finance, transport, wholesale commerce, and the land at- 
tracted an ever-increasing flow of men of this nationality. 

Indeed, the respective situations of the British shop- 
keepers in South America of a hundred years ago and of 
to-day are worthy of a rapid interlude. It may be that 
one of the chief errors of those worthy retail adventurers 
who sallied out to the Southern ports at the beginning of 
the nineteenth century was that their enterprise was be- 
fore its time — for now that the Southern republics have at 
length, after the countless vicissitudes inseparable from 
the process of such a consummation, taken their proper 
place among the great nations of the world, have not such 
vast organizations as Harrods, Maples, Mappins, and 
other establishments that can only exist in company with 
a high state of civilization and many dollars, now planted 
themselves in the soil of the new lands, attracted there as 
irresistibly as an asbestos moth would be to a nourishing 
flame ! 

But we have advanced a century beyond the openings of 
British trade with South America. In the early nine- 
teenth century one of the first spots to attract the British 
in any numbers was Central Chile. This was mainly on 
account of the mining ventures which have already been 
alluded to. But at that period the experiences on the road 
to Chile were as varied and as rough as even the most en- 
thusiastic traveler in search of local color could have de- 
sired ! 



EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 261 

Owing to their complete mastery of their craft, it has 
been the lot of Cornish miners to travel in many parts of 
the world. But they can have known few stranger jour- 
neys than that across the dusty summer grasses of the 
Argentine Campo. As the coaches, bound and strength- 
ened with rawhide from wheel to roof, sped across the 
alluvial plains, the men who came from the long narrow 
streets of whitewashed Cornish cottages must have won- 
dered at much that they saw. As for their grim guardian 
angels of Gauchos, who galloped tirelessly by the side of 
the coaches, and who regarded with amazed contempt 
these strange creatures from abroad who possessed two 
legs, and who yet did not know how to sit a horse — they 
and their families at the fortified post-houses were not the 
least curious of the many new sights the miners saw. 
Captain Head relates the remark of one of them, as they 
went from east to west: 

**They be so wild as the donkey," said one of the Cor- 
nish party, smiling; he then very gravely added, ''And 
there be one thing, sir, that I do observe, which is, that 
the farther we do go, the wilder things do get !" 

It was this Cornishman, or another of his party, who 
some time later, when in the Andes, rode up to a condor 
who had gorged himself to such a degree on the carcass 
of a horse that he was unable to flap his heavy body away. 
Determined that he would break a spear with so unusual 
an antagonist as a condor, the miner descended from his 
horse, and closed with the gigantic bird. 

"No two animals can well be imagined less likely to 
meet than a Cornish miner and a condor," observes Head, 
' ' and few could have calculated, a year ago, when the one 
was hovering high upon the snowy pinnacles of the Cor- 
dillera, and the other many fathoms beneath the surface 
of the ground in Cornwall, that they would ever meet to 
wrestle and 'hug' upon the wide desert plain of Villa- 
Vicencia. ' ' 

It was a case of St. David and the Condor, and after a 



262 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

tremendous struggle victory rested with the man from 
the land of leeks, who triumphantly bore away some of 
the great carrion bird's wing feathers as trophies of the 
day! 

The accounts of these early crossings of the Cordilleras, 
which are fairly numerous, dovetail their various facts, 
the one with another, in a most interesting fashion. We 
have a relation, for instance, by one of the first English- 
men to pass the Andes of the accouchement of his wife in 
the bleak and terrific upper-world of peaks, chasms, snow, 
and condors — one of the most trying experiences, not only 
for the wife but for the party, which can possibly be con- 
ceived. In a later book another traveler tells how he 
met an English lady traveling with a young family among 
the Andes heights. Her eldest — a boy of seven, who had 
ridden the whole way — ^was the actual child who had first 
seen the light in that wild spot. He was certainly the 
first Englishman — I do not know if there has been a 
second — born in the shadow of Aconcagua ! 

Numbers of the Cornish miners were occupied in the 
Venezuelan mines, of which so much was hoped at the 
beginning of the nineteenth century. At one of these, 
the Quebrado Mine, no fewer than three hundred British 
miners and laborers, and artisans were employed. 

There would seem to be very few of the mountainous 
mineral nooks of South America into which these Cornish 
miners have not penetrated at some time or two. An epi- 
sode in support of this is related by Mr. H. C. Ross 
Johnson at a much later date. Writing in 1868, he 
tells how, when traveling in the very remote Argentine 
province of Catamarca, he quite unexpectedly came 
across a Cornish mine captain and six Cornish foremen 
miners. 

They had been engaged for four years, at a temptingly 
high rate of pay. Their lives must have been monoto- 
nous in the extreme ; for since the date of their arrival at 
the spot, three years before Mr. Ross Johnson met with 



EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 263 

them, they had not been five miles from the lonely moun- 
tain mine in which they worked ! 

Although many of the early British travelers suffered 
dangers and hardship in the passage of the Argentine- 
Chilean Andes, they were at all events spared a sensa- 
tion which is related with considerable emphasis by more 
than one Englishman who penetrated into the Colombian 
mountains. These were apt to be carried in a chair 
strapped to the back of a powerful native mountaineer, 
known as a sillero. The experience of these travelers as 
they sat like portmanteaus on the backs of the moun- 
taineers panting across precipices of a sickening depth 
could have been no enviable one. 

It is related that in the course of the "War of Independ- 
ence a Spanish officer, who was being carried in this way, 
caused himself no little brutal amusement by digging his 
spurs into the unfortunate sillero, until the man, goaded 
to desperation, jerked him from the chair into the depths 
of a tremendous abyss, after which the sillero fled into the 
wilds for refuge. 

It was natural enough, owing to the confusion attending 
the replacing of one rule by another, that the lesser events 
should be described by the British spectators rather than 
by the distraught local actors. It is to these British trav- 
elers that we are indebted for much of the local color of 
the first quarter of the nineteenth century. It is they who 
have described the decay in the authority of those priests 
who, disgracing their cloth, crowded into the cock-pits, 
each with his fighting cock under his arm. It is they, too, 
who have told us how a number of the most ignorant of 
these priests, bitterly resenting the freedom accorded to 
the British in Mendoza, managed for a time to secure the 
governor of that province when he was in bed. After 
this, taking advantage of the lapse of lay authority, they 
burned in the public plasa a copy of the Constitution of 
the new and objectionably tolerant republic ! 

But such reactionary spasms were fleeting. The popu- 



264 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

lace on the whole was not slow in appreciating the ma- 
terial and moral benefits derived from the revolution, al- 
though these were sometimes judged in a sufficiently crude 
manner. 

A British officer who traveled over large stretches of 
the north of the continent just after the conclusion of the 
War of Independence used to ask many of the people with 
whom he came into contact what was the chief benefit they 
had derived from the revolution. He relates that the 
answer was invariably the same, *'I can now procure 
English goods at one third of the price at which they 
could be purchased during the dominion of the Span- 
iards.'* From which it appears that the highest affairs 
of state can have the most homely significance ! 

The method by which British trade was opened with 
the Pacific coast of South America was simple enough. 
Goods suitable for the Chilean market were consigned 
from London or Calcutta to agents in Valparaiso or San- 
tiago. The payment for these might be made in the or- 
dinary way by bills or specie. Another method of liqui- 
dating the amounts of these imported goods was by the 
shipment of copper in return. In this way a British ves- 
sel would discharge her cargo at Valparaiso and would 
proceed to Coquimbo in the North to fill up with copper, 
the shipment of which had been arranged for by the mer- 
chants in Valparaiso or Santiago who had purchased the 
European or Indian goods. 

A similar exchange of commodities developed through- 
out the continent. Buenos Aires and Montevideo sent 
horns, hides, tallow, and other products of a pastoral 
country. Brazil sent coffee and sugar ; Peru and Bolivia 
sent their minerals and drugs, and in fact every one of 
the new states contributed according to its capabilities — 
which depended largely on the industry of its people and 
the political tranquillity of the state. 

On the other hand, the importation of the machinery 
and goods, which had been so sternly shut out by the 



EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 265 

Spanish laws of the Indies rapidly had its effect on the 
industries of the continent and helped to change the face 
of many a landscape. That there were instances of over- 
enthusiasm and want of judgment goes without saying. 
Melancholy traces of these were left in such objects as 
massive pieces of mining machinery stranded in some 
lofty and difficult pass of the Andes. Occasionally, too, 
the geographical conditions of the various districts were 
misunderstood — as when skates were sent to tropical 
Brazil ! 

It must be admitted that the finish of much of the early 
nineteenth century ware sent from England to South 
America was entirely inappropriate to its surroundings. 
Walsh, for instance, relates that at a supper in a balcony 
of the glowing uplands of Brazil, a rather mystic enter- 
tainment — doubtless illuminated by fire-flies — at which 
six young female slaves, robed in white, attended, the 
Staffordshire Punch-jug bore upon its honest face the 
blunt legend, ' ' To all good fellows. ' ' 

No doubt, too. Captain Head, resting in a hut in a re- 
mote corner of the then wild Pampa, and watching the 
onslaught of a cloud of locusts on his belongings, took 
some comfort from the assurance that ornamented a mug 
in the rancho : 

"No power on earth 
Can make us rue, 
If England to her- 
Self proves true." 

The meetings which had occurred from the dawn of 
South American history between the upper classes of the 
Anglo-Saxons and of the Iberians had been facilitated by 
the knowledge, tastes, and inclinations which they pos- 
sessed in common. But when, with the increased oppor- 
tunities of travel, the lower orders of the British con- 
trived to penetrate into the continent, their collision with 
the humbler South Americans could not well fail to be 



266 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

productive of a good deal of misunderstanding and mu- 
tual wonder. 

Such as these, of course, possessed in the first instance 
scant opportunity of studying the life of the better-class 
South Americans, or of being struck with some of the 
curious customs which the more cultured travelers re- 
marked. One of these habits, though trivial enough, was 
quaint. This was the friendly flipping of bread pellets at 
meals, which, in the second decade of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, appears to have been indulged in with an enthusiasm 
that, having peppered the persons of all the guests, left 
the floor littered with the bread missiles. This was looked 
upon as a very curious and notable South American habit, 
until it was discovered that the custom had been intro- 
duced a few years before by some rather rowdy young 
Englishmen! But nowhere else, apparently, had these 
banqueting battles been taken up so whole-heartedly since 
they flourished in London in the days of James II! 

Of the more humble immigrants they were enterprising 
folk, those who plunged into the midst of a people, whose 
language they did not understand, and whose customs 
they had to pick up as best they could. Yet there were 
many who set out in this way, single-handed, and who 
carved a career for themselves, notwithstanding the dis- 
advantage of having to slash first of all in the dark ! But 
the drawbacks of this racial solitude must have been 
heavy. 

In such circumstances traveler's tales are apt to be 
double-edged. Many an itinerant expounder has flattered 
himself that he has been dispensing useful information, 
when all that he has taught his hearers is the conviction 
that he himself is a liar! Something of this kind hap- 
pened to an old Scotsman who had long been settled in 
Corrientes when the first British war steamer to ascend 
the Parana River halted at that subtropical port. Many 
years before in an incautious and expansive moment he 
had told the Corrientinos of English coal — of the black 



EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 267 

stones that would burn and blaze. As a result, his repu- 
tation for veracity had shrunk thinner than the legs of 
the herons on the Parana. But when the black diamonds, 
nestling in their bunkers under the white ensign actually 
came up the river, his opportunity arrived with them. 
He boarded the vessel, secured some lumps of coal, took 
them ashore, piled and lit them, and, watched the flames 
burn away the doubt of many years from the faces of his 
apologetic, excited, and gratified friends. This story is, 
I believe, absolutely true. 

Later, when the pastoral value of the Southern half of 
the continent became evident, arrived young men of the 
type of those who proceed to our own colonies. With 
them arrived cleaner stallions, straighter-backed bulls, 
and meatier and woolier rams. 

Very soon these British newcomers made themselves 
at home to an extent in which none of their predecessors 
had succeeded. They fraternized with South American 
landowner and with Gaucho alike, and a mutual respect 
was rapidly established. The Englishman, for his part, 
became attached to these immense plains of alluvial soil 
in a fashion that is seldom seen outside the bounds of 
his own empire. In the early days — and until the middle 
of the nineteenth century — ^he had not only hardships to 
contend with, but the Indian peril as well. 

South America lacks a Fenimore Cooper, which is re- 
grettable, having regard to the wild scenes conjured up 
by the Indians of the Southern pastures of the continent. 
In many respects these resembled the redskins of North 
America. Their war-whoop was similar, but rendered 
yet more barbaric by striking the yelling lips with the 
hand, thus breaking up the sound. Their lances were 
of a prodigious length, and their horsemanship was such 
that entire companies of them would sweep to the attack, 
and present the appearance of mere riderless horses, the 
dusky warriors clinging out of sight beneath the bellies 
of their mounts. At other times they would play such 



268 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

circus-like tricks as that of standing upright on the backs 
of their galloping horses. 

A number of the British pioneers lost their lives at the 
hands of these savages, and many a British-owned home- 
stead went smoking up to the skies after their raids. A 
fairly effectual method of defense was that of digging a 
deep and wide ditch round a threatened estancia house. 
Bred in the unbroken level of the Pampa, the Indian 
horses had never acquired the art of leaping, and the 
rifles of half a dozen resolute men stationed behind a 
sufficiently important ditch frequently sent hundreds of 
marauding Indians to the rightabout, for the Pampa war- 
rior, afoot, somewhat resembled a non-swimmer in the 
sea, and had no stomach left for fight or play ! 

In the forest and mountain country of the north of the 
continent the aborigines were, of course, of quite another 
type. Here, although there is no record of any aggression 
on a national scale, the Indians appear to have broken out 
into lawlessness on one or two occasions as the northern 
War of Liberation was drawing to a close. Sometimes 
their ravages were sufficiently serious. Captain Coch- 
rane, who in 1823 visited Santa Marta, an important town 
in Colombia, found that it had quite recently been occu- 
pied for three weeks by insurgent Indians, who had cre- 
ated enormous damage, with the result that the popula- 
tion of the place had been reduced from eight thousand 
to a few hundreds, and that the commerce of the city 
had been completely destroyed for the time being. "I 
dined," says Captain Cochrane, ''with Mr. Fairbank, the 
principal merchant of the place, from whom I heard many 
particulars of the ravages committed by the Indians, the 
traces of which I beheld in half-destroyed doors, wain- 
scots and beams, and felt in the total want of most of the 
usual accommodations of civilized life. Those marauders 
had drunk all the spirits in his cellars; but his vin de 
Bordeaux and champagne being too delicate for their un- 
sophisticated palates, they had amused themselves by 



EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 269 

smashing a portion of the bottles to atoms, and with the 
remainder of the wine, on account of the scarcity of water, 
they had boiled their meat in large kettles suspended over 
bonfires made of the furniture of the proprietors, before 
the doors of their houses. ' * 

Surely the only comment possible is that these were 
very liquid pearls, and very dusky swine ! 

In such troublous times the British consulates have 
often proved havens of refuge, and have occasionally 
served as storehouses. William BoUaert, for instance, 
writing in 1860, says that one of the most interesting 
sights of Panama was the patio, or courtyard, of the Brit- 
ish consulate, piled up with bars of silver from Peru and 
Chile, on their way across the Isthmus. 

Captain Cochrane has been quoted more than once in 
these pages, but I must refer to him just once again, and 
at some length, in order to show the pleasant breeziness 
of some naval men's day ashore near Cartagena. 

*'0n the 8th," says Captain Cochrane, *'Mr. Eennie, 
Mr. Isaacs, Mr. Miers, and myself, made a picnic shooting 
— party with the officers of the Isis. We slept on board 
the frigate the evening before, and started at daylight 
next morning, having taken a hasty breakfast previously ; 
and landing at Senor Lazaro de Herrera's estate, we 
divided into parties, and commenced operations. At nine 
o 'clock we all assembled to a second breakfast, with a very 
motley show of game, the best being three quails, shot by 
my companion Mr. Eennie, and myself. . . . After our 
breakfast, which was infinitely better than our sport, 
we turned into our hammocks, and slept until one o 'clock, 
when Mr. Eennie succeeded most effectually in dispelling 
sleep by a series of practical jokes. He placed a small 
donkey, as a bedfellow, beside Mr. Miers, who was aroused 
by the ungentle caresses of the animal ; which, displeased 
at its novel situation, began to kick, and awoke Mr. Miers 
from his gentle slumber, amidst the laughter of all his 
companions, who did not fail to make a few jokes on the 



270 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

occasion, which were received with much good temper. 
Mr. Rennie's next feat was to awaken Mr. Isaacs, which 
he did most completely, by shooting a pigeon which was 
roasting (roosting?) over that gentleman's hammock. 
We now all rose, finding that no chance of being allowed 
to repose any longer was left us. I bought all the pigeons 
I could procure, and proposed a pigeon-match for the 
amusement of the party. This was acceded to : and, after 
a general competition of skill, it was decided in favor of 
the first lieutenant of the Isis, as the best sliot. At two, 
we sat down to dinner, being joined by Captain Forrest ; 
and in the cool of the afternoon we again started in search 
of game. I saw a great many large snipes, but could not 
kill any. Returning homewards, my guide led me to a 
spot which was sometimes the resort of wild-deer; at 
the moment, fortunately for me, one was grazing there, 
which I killed with buck-shot, hitting her in the neck. I 
carried her down in triumph, and was allowed by general 
acclamation to be the most fortunate man of the day. 
The principal spoil of the rest of the party consisted of 
Muscovy ducks, tame cocks, barn-door fowls, etc., which 
they had shot, because they could procure no sport in 
the field, and therefore took their revenge on the domestic 
poultry. Everything was however paid for, and the cot- 
tagers requested us to return and visit them again at 
some future period. We then embarked; and, on reach- 
ing the ship, sat down to a good supper in the gun-room of 
the Isis, where we canvassed our exploits, and determined 
a day of pleasure and conviviality." 

Could any episodes have been more refreshing to the 
war-worn and rather tragic soil of Cartagena? 

These other episodes connected with the north of the 
continent have at least the added merit of local color. It 
is probable enough that a certain amount of the legend 
of Manoa and its wonderful waters was founded on the 
Colombian mountain lake of Guatavita, a spot which had 
been held very sacred by the Indians before the advent of 



EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 271 

the Spaniards. Here twice a year, the Cacique of the 
tribe would be paddled to the middle of the lake, and 
among the other ceremonies which took place his body 
was powdered with gold dust, after which he plunged 
into the water. 

This lake was inspected with some curiosity by the 
first British travelers in that region, with the idea of 
draining off its waters, and thus securing the enormous 
amount of treasure which, it was reputed, lay at the bot- 
tom of the lake. No steps of this kind appear actually to 
have been taken at the time. The travelers, however, 
were shown the sepulchers of two of the ancient Caciques, 
and also a cave in the rock, which was said to have been 
connected with this worship, and its entrance to have 
been guarded by two life-size figures of gold. It was re- 
lated that a Spanish soldier, having lit by accident on 
the spot, had got the length of cutting off a golden finger, 
when he was attacked by the Indians, and, bleeding from 
his wounds, only escaped with the greatest difficulty. 
When he returned with a strong party to the spot, the 
golden figures had vanished, having probably been flung 
into the lake. 

It is possible, of course, that this story is as flimsy as 
that of Manoa itself. On the other hand, it seems to 
contain nothing that is essentially improbable. 

Of the many bizarre customs of the north of the con- 
tinent the following one witnessed by an Englishman 
was certainly not the least strange. That it afforded a 
sufficiently rough sport will be gathered from his account : 

*'In the evening, attended high mass; and afterwards 
witnessed an imitation of bull-fighting, in the front of 
the church. A man, the tallest and most powerful in the 
place, was selected, on whom was fixed, and well secured, 
a large ox-hide, with enormous horns, hollowed and filled 
with brimstone and other combustible materials; a pair 
of eyes, and large and round as a saucer, and a tail of 
most tremendous length. The moon had not risen, and 



272 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the night was dark, when the burning composition in 
the horns was ignited, and the sport commenced. The 
fiery bull attacked all the assembled world — such shriek- 
ing, such running, such scampering ; all was confusion and 
uproar! Some bolder than the others faced the blazing 
bull, held up roanas before him, and shook flags in front 
of the flaming horns; some dexterously avoided the 
thrusts made at them ; others, less fortunate, were falling 
beneath the force of the furious animal, who would fre- 
quently have set fire to his prostrate antagonist, but for 
the friendly interference of some companion, who would 
on such an occasion seize the bull by his convenient lengfli 
of tail, and swing him round from his fallen foe, before 
he could satiate his revenge." 

The following note, too, will give an idea of an early 
nineteenth century Colombian dinner : 

*'The first course consisted of soups, fish, roast and 
stewed meats, poultry, etc; likewise numerous made 
dishes, interspersed with vegetables, olives, melons, etc; 
until not an inch remained to put another dish on; the 
table actually groaning under the weight of eatables. 
This is the principal course, and takes up a considerable 
time. The soups are removed the moment they are done 
with, and large made-dishes of meat placed in their room. 
A bottle of wine, generally vin de Bordeaux, is placed to 
every person, with a decanter of water, wine-glass, and 
tumbler; and white wine is distributed here and there 
about the table ; every one drinks when he likes, which I 
think is much better than our English custom, which may 
force a man who is eating curry to drink Madeira. After 
it is seen that every one declines eating more of the course 
on the table, champagne is handed round, and then a gen- 
eral rising takes place ; you adjourn to another room, or 
walk about the garden, until the table is cleared, and the 
second, or dessert, course is arranged. This move is cer- 
tainly agreeable at so large a party, and you return with 
renewed appetite, to attack the second course on its being 



EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 273 

announced, which generally takes rather more than half 
an hour. We found the table elegantly replenished, and 
ornamented with flowers ; it consisted of tarts, puddings, 
creams, all kinds of preserves, and sweetmeats (in which 
latter the natives excel) ; likewise every variety of fruit 
in the greatest profusion : wines were placed at moderate 
distances, as before." 

Various descriptions have been given by British trav- 
elers of the festivities which took place at Bogota between 
the 24th and the 30th of December, partly in honor of the 
season, and partly to commemorate the victories by which 
the independence of the nation had been won. Imitations 
of medieval tournaments were given in appropriate — and 
presumably stifling — costume. A queen of the tourna- 
ment was elected, who presented the prizes for sports of 
a medieval nature such as tilting the ring, and charging 
a wooden figure, swung on a pivot, which, if not fairly 
struck with a lance, flew round to strike the discomfited 
rider on the back. In addition, more modern amusements, 
such as cutting off the Turk*s head, were introduced. 

It happened that in 1823 a scarcity of funds produced 
a lack of knights. So, in the place of the tournament, a 
quieter entertainment was held, which was signficant of 
the spirit of the times. Senor Triana, the director of 
the Lancasterian school, brought forward twelve pupils 
for public examination. These, standing up to the fire of 
questions, are said to have acquitted themselves very well 
in the subjects of the Old and New Testament, Spanish 
grammar, and arithmetic. 

There is no denying that this particular procedure, ad- 
mirable though it was, was a little too restrained in its 
atmosphere to be natural to the flaming tropics, where 
declamation and costume were only appreciated on a pro- 
nounced scale. In the early days of the Independence to 
meet even a typical Northern traveler was to imagine 
oneself on the boards of an opera house. Here is a de- 
scription of these by a contemporary English visitor : 



274f BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

* * They generally wore red or blue pantaloons, with long 
boots, spurs with immense rowels, broad-brimmed hats, 
and the wrapping cloaks called mantillas, or in their stead 
capotes, or roanas, which completely envelop the wearer, 
like the cloaks of our military. They go well armed, hav- 
ing pistols in their holsters and swords by their sides, 
which precautions have become habitual, through the 
effects of protracted war, and were necessary on account 
of the disturbed state of the country. ' ' 

Notwithstanding these romantic perambulations the 
country showed itself fully prepared to enter into com- 
merce. Perhaps one of the most striking testimonies to 
this effect is to be found in one of the first concessions 
granted by the free state of Colombia. This concerned 
the famous pearl oysters for which so many tall ships 
had plowed the waves, and for which so many bucaneers 
had slain, and fought, and bled. Now, the exclusive right 
of fishing for pearl oysters with machinery, for ten years, 
was given to Messrs. Eundell, Bridge, and Eundell, of 
London! An eloquent change of address! This, at the 
time, was considered by an expert to be a concession 
inferior in value to none except that for the then proposed 
cutting of the Panama Canal ! 

After this we may turn to a minor incident which illus- 
trates further the spirit of the age. The son of the fa- 
mous General Miranda must have inherited his father's 
temperament and convictions in no small degree, for a 
British traveler who was in the neighborhood of Caracas 
in 1823 relates that, as he was breakfasting at an inn he 
was joined by two young men, the sons of Generals Mir- 
anda and Wilson. Wilson was on his way to take up his 
post as aide-de-camp to General Bolivar, while Miranda 
was about to set up a printing press which was to devote 
itself to the cause of liberty. 

The great amount of survey work achieved by British 
officers of the South American coasts in the early years 
of the nineteenth century has been referred to. Some 



EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 275 

notable performances of this kind, too, were made on the 
great river systems, and, as these come within a different 
category, they may as well be noticed here. 

Much admirable survey work was effected on the Pa- 
rana River by Captain B. J. Sullivan, of H.M.S. Philomel. 
Commander M'Kinnon states that this officer was on 
board the Alecto, when she was returning from the up- 
river expedition against Eosas. The little war-steamer 
came rushing down the swift stream at a furious pace, but 
Sullivan ' ' coolly stood on the paddle-box, and conned the 
vessel by a motion of his hand to the quarter-master." 

One of the most enterprising journeys across the con- 
tinent was that undertaken in 1834 by two young naval 
men, Lieutenant W. Smyth and Mr. F. Lowe, who arriving 
in H.M.S. Samarang at Callao, took to discussing the in- 
terior of Peru with an English and some Peruvian resi- 
dents of the port. 

It was said to be possible, by penetrating inland to the 
banks of the Pachitea Eiver, to enter the Ucayali stream, 
thence to emerge into the Maranon, and eventually by 
means of the Amazon to open up a direct route to the At- 
lantic. The seamy side of the trip was represented 
chiefly by the inevitable hardships of the road, and by 
the reported presence of cannibals on both banks of the 
Pachitea River. 

Neither of these prospects sufficed to deter the two 
Samarang officers, who, encouraged both by their captain 
and the British consul-general at Callao, determined to 
make the attempt. The Peruvian authorities promised 
assistance, andkall that remained was to obtain the con- 
sent of Commodore Mason, the senior officer of the station. 

The Samarang was due to sail for home on the 25th of 
August, and, as luck would have it, Commodore Mason's 
ship, the Blonde, only arrived just in time. In the end 
it resolved itself into a question of minutes as to whether 
the two young officers would sail to England in the usual 
way in the Samarang, or whether they would have the op- 



276 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

portunity of undertaking one of the most adventurous 
journeys possible across the continent. 

The Samarang was already under sail when the Com- 
modore's permission arrived! As they themselves put 
it, Smyth and Lowe had only just time to scrape together 
a few traps, and to bundle down into the last boat for the 
shore ! 

The two Samarangs had need of all their unbounded 
enthusiasm, for they soon discovered that this land cruise 
of theirs was not to be all plain sailing. The young Per- 
uvian Government was very willing to assist, but its 
means at the time were phenomenally limited, and the first 
instalments of mules and other necessaries rapidly ab- 
sorbed all the oflScers' available private store of cash. 
But here the newly formed British community very dis- 
interestedly stepped into the breach to the extent of sub- 
scribing sixty pounds. 

In the end the two set out, accompanied by some Peru- 
vian officers, who were instructed to render them every 
assistance as far as the frontier. The senior of these 
was a Colonel Althaus, whose name as a gallant patriot 
soldier is, I find, referred to on several occasions in the 
memoirs of British officers in the revolutionary cause. 
Indeed, he is more than once alluded to as a most genial 
companion, with an exceptional fund of humor which kept 
his comrades continually amused, and which caused him 
to receive unusually kind treatment from the Spanish 
officers into whose hands he once fell as a captive for a 
time. But on this occasion Althaus 's services appear to 
have been of a very mediocre order. Probably the ob- 
jects of the expedition interested him too little and its 
worries too much. It was after having successfully ne- 
gotiated the high and snowy levels of the neighborhood 
of the Cerro de Pasco that the troubles with the reluctant 
Indian carriers became acute, and Althaus separated him- 
self from the party, and abandoned the expedition. His 
juniors, however, Major Beltran and the naval lieutenant 



EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 277 

Azcarate, more than compensated for this loss by the 
staunchness and good-comradeship they displayed from 
start to finish. 

At the lofty mining town of Cerro de Pasco they came 
across some mining machinery which had been erected 
by an English company in 1827. The company had failed, 
but considering this remarkably early enterprise, it surely 
deserved a better fate ! After this, it may be mentioned 
in parenthesis, occurred a certain disappointment in the 
expected escort, for instead of two hundred soldiers only 
nine made their appearance. And these — perhaps to ren- 
der their numbers more formidable — ^were accompanied 
by their wives and children ! 

In the end — owing to the reduced circumstances of the 
party and the continued desertions of the Indians — ^the 
route originally chosen had to be given up, and it was 
decided to make for the Huallaga Eiver instead. There 
was no more question now of mountain sickness, snow, 
and barren peaks. Passing downwards through coffee 
plantations and pleasant vegetation, they embarked at 
length on the lovely little stream of the Chinchao, with 
the keen delight of sailors setting foot even in the frailest 
of canoes. 

The Chinchao almost immediately led into the Hual- 
laga, and the party soon found itself negotiating the rap- 
ids of that important stream. At one of the tiny river 
ports the two British naval officers organized a ceremony 
such as those waters had never witnessed before. The oc- 
casion was the launching of a new canoe to hold the Peru- 
vian officers. Thanks to the festal exertions of the en- 
tire party, the canoe took the water fluttering with British 
and Peruvian colors, while the drums and pipes of the 
Indians sounded at their very loudest ! 

After this laudable joviality it was a little disconcerting 
for the expedition to find that the new Indian crews re- 
fused to start unless they were accompanied in the canoes 
by their wives, children, dogs, cats, and a number of pots 



278 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

and pans. But there was nothing for it, and so it was 
with the gunwales of its canoes almost submerged by this 
unwelcome and heterogeneous load that the party went 
on its way downstream, the genial Indians presently kill- 
ing for food some red-bearded monkeys which, owing to 
the unshaven state of Smyth and Lowe, they insisted on 
calling the Englishmen's countrymen ! 

It is more instructive to note that even in these remote 
Indian settlements on the banks of the various streams 
printed cottons, green baize, ribbons, cutlery, glass beads, 
and other objects of the kind were to be met with, all of 
British manufacture. In fact, * 'we never entered a place, 
that was more than a small village," say the joint authors, 
"in which we did not meet with some of the manufac- 
tures of our own country. ' ' 

It is on reading such phrases as these that it is difficult 
to refrain from the condition of a laudator temporis acti! 

At the next halting place of importance the party found 
itself received with an amazing amount of pomp and cere- 
mony. This, it eventually appeared, was owing to the 
strategy of a messenger sent in advance, who had little 
faith in the half-savage inhabitants. As a precautionary 
measure against their wilder instincts he had announced 
that a general, his aide-de-camp, a saint, and a priest were 
about to arrive ! The prospect of this militant, ecclesias- 
tical, and haloed galaxy completely overawed the vil- 
lagers, and when the officers of the expedition saw the 
wealth of fowls, fish, and plantains which awaited them 
they forgave the fertile imagination of their messenger ! 

In due course the party emerged upon the broad, glassy 
stream of the Ucayali, and both the Samarang officers 
justly congratulated themselves on being the first English- 
men to float on these waters. Soon after this the expedi- 
tion became the guests of a notable Peruvian missionary. 
Padre Plaza, who used his very important influence over 
the Indians in their favor. 

This solitary mission station at Sarayucu, a few miles 



EARLY TRAVELERS AND TRADERS 279 

up a tributary stream of the Ucayali, was the limit of the 
Peruvian officers' journey, and it was with a sincere mu- 
tual regret and an exchange of cheers that Beltran and 
Azcarate separated themselves from their British com- 
rades, who started on their long journey downstream, 
their quaint craft adorned at all points with live speci- 
mens of the rarer birds and monkeys such as the two had 
been able to collect. 

The remainder of the journey down the great network 
of the Amazon basin streams was safely effected. No 
cannibal attacks were encountered, and, indeed, it was 
only when the party began to approach the more impor- 
tant Brazilian centers toward the Atlantic coast that a 
vital but prosaic inconvenience began to be felt — ^the lack 
of funds. It seemed something of an anomaly that an ex- 
pedition which had braved climate, cataracts, and canni- 
bals, and had penetrated the heart of the continent from 
west to east should be held up for the sake of a few dol- 
lars ! It was so, however, and the situation was only re- 
lieved by the sale of a double-barreled gun, a valued gift 
of Captain Paget 's of the Samarang. 

On the proceeds of this gun they continued their 
journey to Para — and even had a few coppers to spare 
for a canoe ornamented with a silver-gilt crown which 
they encountered on its way upstream on a religious beg- 
ging expedition, a craft which came gliding along the 
tropical stream with flag flying and to the pomp of drum 
beats and the music of hymns ! 

After this they floated down without further incident 
of note to Para where, having occupied eight months on 
the journey, they met with a most cordial welcome from 
the officers of H.M. sloop Dispatch which happened to 
be lying in the port, as well as from the British merchants 
of the place. Thus ended a small but notable expedition, 
the value of whose surveys was freely and fully acknowl- 
edged by the Peruvian Government. 

It was some ten years later that the upper reaches of 



280 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the second greatest river system of the continent were 
opened to foreign traffic. In 1845 a treaty was entered 
into between Great Britain and Paraguay, which gave 
British subjects the right to navigate the Paraguayan 
rivers. Incidentally, it permitted them to reside in any 
part of Paraguay — their area of residence had previously 
been confined to the town of Asuncion — and to marry 
Paraguayans : a privilege of which they had not legally 
been considered as worthy until then ! 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE BRITISH IN BEAZIL (l) 

Influence of the Spanish occupation on the policy of Brazil — Some at- 
tempt at settlement in the North — ^Irrigating port regulations — 
Bahia as a place of call — The court of Portugal — Political situa- 
tion in the Peninsula — Dilemma of the regent, Prince Joao — 
— The result of vacillation — Eventual adoption of the British 
proposals — Advance of Junot — Flight of the court — Arrival of the 
royal fleet at Bahia — The event described — Enthusiasm of the Brazil- 
ians — The British vessels — Inconveniences endured by the royal party 
and the court on the voyage — ^Assistance rendered by the sailors in a 
delicate situation — ^The manufacture of garments at sea — Prince 
Pedro's clothes — Arrival of the royal party at Rio de Janeiro — Joy of 
the inhabitants — The British fleet in Brazilian waters — Arrival of Sir 
W. Sidney Smith — Opening of the Brazilian ports — Concessions to for- 
eigners — Erection of an English church — Differing views of the local 
ecclesiastics — A subtle bishop — Testimony of English and American 
clerics — Mercantile collections and consular fees — Enterprise of the 
British merchants — An overflow of imported goods — Want of judg- 
ment and its results — Consequences of climatic ignorance — Incidents 
of some naval cruises — Loss of the Agamemnon — Contemporary mid- 
shipmen's quarters. 

THE influence of the Spaniards on the policy of 
Brazil lasted for a considerable time after the 
Portuguese Empire had thrown off the dominion 
of Spain. Notwithstanding the genuine friendship which 
existed between the British and Portuguese in Europe, 
several armed collisions between the two nations occurred 
in Brazil. The British occasionally joined the expedi- 
tions of the Dutch West India Company, that had been 
formed for the conquest and colonization of the north of 
Brazil, and in 1629 we find an Irishman of the name of 
James Purcel in command of a settlement established on 
the Island of Tocujos. 
After a desperate resistance the place capitulated on 

281 



282 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

terms that were extraordinarily liberal. Not only were 
its defenders permitted to evacuate the place and to re- 
tain their property, but it was agreed that they should be 
provided with a free passage to Portugal ! This attempt 
does not seem to have been a solitary one, and the Portu- 
guese were loud in their complaints that the quantity of 
tobacco grown by these unwelcomed settlers was suffi- 
ciently important to injure the trade of Para. 

Perhaps it was the bitterness engendered by this which 
rendered the events of the next collision between the two 
races so much more embittered. This occurred during 
the very next year, and the scene of hostilities was again 
the Island of Tocujos, to which some two hundred Eng- 
lish had repaired under the command of one Thomas, an 
old soldier, who is said to have served with distinction in 
the Low Countries. Thomas was captured and cut to 
pieces by his enraged opponents, after which the fort sur- 
rendered. A later expedition under a leader of the name 
given as Roger Fray — which, as Southey reasonably ex- 
plains, is probably the Portuguese rendering of Fryer or 
Frere — met with no better success. 

Even in the South, where no such attempts were made, 
Brazilian ports, generally speaking, remained inhospita- 
ble places, and British sailors, including the famous Cap- 
tain Cook, met with every obstacle which could be put in 
the way of intercourse with the shore. 

Landing parties were only permitted under a Brazilian 
guard, and arrests of travelers under the most flimsy pre- 
texts were frequent. In fact, the Brazilian colonial au- 
thorities made a conscientious attempt to give their ports 
a sufficiently unpleasant name to render them unpopular 
in the eyes of the undesired foreigner ! 

These Brazilian ports, more especially that of Bahia, 
were visited by a number of British vessels bound for 
India. Just as Pedro Alvarez Cabral, bound for the 
shining East, had lit by accident upon Bahia, and thus dis- 
covered Brazil, so the British East Indiamen of a later 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 

era found that the set of wind and tide made it to their 
advantage to sail first to the southwest skirting the Bra- 
zilian shore, until they had attained to a point most fa- 
vorable for them to shape their course for the east. 

These would frequently put in at Bahia, and less often 
at Eio de Janeiro; but it was seldom indeed that their 
reception at either of these ports was spoken of with any 
enthusiasm by the seafarers. It was not until Brazil be- 
came a kingdom that this situation changed. When the 
change occurred, however, it was a sufficiently momen- 
tous one, connected, indeed, with nothing less than the ad- 
vent to Brazil of the Portuguese court. 

In order to start at the beginning of Great Britain's 
share in the kingdom and empire of Brazil, it is necessary 
to flit in the winter of 1807 to the north across the inter- 
vening ocean to where the court of Portugal, with the re- 
gent Prince Joao at its head, was fluttering uneasily on 
the westernmost fringe of Europe. 

In this heyday of Napoleon's power no refuge — saving 
moral surrender and an alliance with the French — re- 
mained except across the seas, for the advancing soldiers 
of France lay between Lisbon and Europe. England, the 
old ally, a gray-skied but hospitable, lay to the north. 
But the political disadvantages of a flight to a foreign 
country were too weighty, and its effect upon the Por- 
tuguese peasantry could not fail to be lamentable. 

To the south, six thousand miles across the ocean, lay 
Brazil, the majestic colony that represented a continent 
in itself. It was true that until then Brazil's principal 
fame in the northerland had been on account of the trea- 
sures she had yielded up. For centuries Brazil had been 
milked; even then she had never been found dry either 
of produce or affection. The loyalty of the Brazilians 
had flourished like a wallflower on its stone, with no out- 
ward evidence of support and encouragement. In its 
terrible stress the little kingdom of Portugal had been 
cheered by the cries of devotion which had gone up from 



284 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

this tropical and neglected colony. The refuge of Brazil, 
moreover, had been strongly recommended by England, 
and at that period British recommendations were not, 
after all, hints which it was advisable to ignore. 

These circumstances had helped to settle the mind of 
Joao, perched on the cliffs in the neighborhood of Lisbon 
like a doubting seabird meditating flight. Had the matter 
been less urgent it is certain that Brazil would have 
whistled in vain for a king, for at the best times Joao's 
mind strongly resented the operation of being made up, 
and probably no ruler ever possessed a temperament less 
suited for governing. 

As it was, the prince regent had vacillated giddily for a 
time between the demands of the French and the British. 
Once, judging the French peril to be the nearer of the two, 
he had acceded in despair to the terms of that nation, and 
had begun to carry out the stipulated measures against 
the British. He discovered almost immediately that, so 
far as his own interests were concerned, he had fallen into 
a grievous error. Junot was already advancing light- 
heartedly toward Lisbon, and the regent was thunder- 
struck to hear of a French proclamation in the face of his 
submission, to the effect that "the House of Braganca no 
longer reigned!" 

Joao, his plans veering all round the compass, turned in 
haste to England for aid, and announced his intention of 
embarking under the protection of the British fleet. But 
the measures, instigated by France, that he had already 
taken against the British residents in his kingdom had 
raised the anger of that nation. Lord Strangford, her 
ambassador, had demanded his passports, and had em- 
barked on board the Hibernia, one of the vessels of the 
British fleet commanded by Sir Sidney Smith, which im- 
mediately began a rigorous blockade of Lisbon. 

On the 27th of November after some hurried negotia- 
tions. Lord Strangford landed, and learned from Joao of 
his renewed resolution to fall in with the British plans, 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 285 

and to move his court to Brazil, Poor Prince Joao's 
mind, unstable at the best of times, must have become 
completely confused by the rapidity of these changes of 
plan. On the one day he had sacrificed the time-honored 
alliance with England, and imagined that he had defi- 
nitely bound himself to France. Almost on the next he 
had sought the arms of England again; and now, at two 
days' notice, he, his family, and his court were to be up- 
rooted from their native soil, and were to be sent down 
below the Equator to the great colony which, it was said, 
was all aflame to receive them. 

I'ortunately for himself, Joao had never suffered from 
a surfeit of dignity; had this been so, his discomfiture 
must have been still more acute. But at this crisis one 
of his actions — a typical one — toward the advancing Ju- 
not, now again an enemy, reveals the curious complica- 
tions of his mind. At the last moment, yielding to one of 
the impulses of his weak and kindly nature, he ordered 
a confidential servant to prepare quarters and a meal for 
the French general, in order that the latter should find 
himself comfortable on his arrival ! 

The scene of the royal departure from Europe was, in 
its way, as dramatic as any other of that very stirring 
period. Joao had selected the 29th of November as the 
day for that fateful event. The interval for preparation 
between that and the 27th, it must be admitted, was not 
long. But even here a certain amount of procrastination 
was evident, for, judging by the rate of his previous prog- 
ress, Junot might be expected to arrive on the very day 
of the court's departure, or, at the latest, on the following 
morning. 

From the days when the keels of ships first clove the 
Southern Atlantic, the Brazilian port of Bahia has offered 
a favorable landfall for navigators. So that, since chance 
and its geographical position had already led to it so 
large a number of humbler explorers, it was only natural 
that Bahia should have been the first of the Brazilian 



286 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

ports to witness the arrival of the fleet conveying the 
royal party. 

The approach of the ships is easy to picture, for the 
scene here is, in its way, one of the most romantic in South 
America. There has been little outward change from 
that day to this in the verdure-covered promontory, jut- 
ting out into the blue waters on one side of the bay, and in 
the bay itself with the pink and white and yellow houses of 
the town at its edge shining brilliantly in the strong sun- 
light against the background of vivid blue, into which 
pricked upwards here and there the feathery green heads 
of the palms. There were the lower tiers of the port 
buildings, backed by the little cliffs, on the summit of 
which the houses and the serried churches of the main 
town reared themselves. 

Without a doubt every point of vantage was agog with 
spectators. Sallow-complexioned officials, merchants, 
and planters were gazing eagerly across the glittering 
waters, while the crowds of stout, big-bodied Negro men 
and women — the Negresses of Bahia still hold the proud 
reputation of being the largest owners of avoirdupois in 
the world ! — stood with mouths agape and their wide-open 
eyes displaying an unusually liberal circle of white about 
the pupils. They were all fervent folk these, whatever 
their shade of color, and in the eyes of the general popu- 
lace the royal personages had been invested with a mystic 
and almost holy glamour that made the sight of them in 
the flesh seem an unearthly privilege. 

Thus when the canvas of the advancing vessels stood 
out high and clear against the horizon a boundless en- 
thusiasm prevailed ashore. Some ran to seek out bunt- 
ing until every colored rag in the city floated lazily in 
the hot air. Others ran to fire saluting guns, to compete 
with those which were already banging away from the 
little marine fort set in the waters of the bay — for rejoic- 
ing without good, honest noise has always seemed chas- 
tened joy to the Brazilian. Yet others, amid the shout- 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 287 

ing of tlie crowds, hurried to let loose the flights of cere- 
monial rockets so dear to the Iberian heart, whether by 
day or by night. 

It was in the face of all this that the fleet sailed up and 
dropped anchor in the bay. The British had proved 
themselves faithful watchdogs. The four trim and 
stately warships of that nation which had served as escort 
throughout the voyage were to be distinguished from the 
rest, if for no other reason than that their canvas shone 
strangely white by comparison. The ships were three 
fine 74 's, and a 98, and on the flagship, the Marlborough, 
floated the broad pennant which Sir Sidney Smith had 
specially authorized Captain Moore to fly, when past 
Madeira, to give him greater weight for his important 
mission. 

Had the overjoyed Brazilians been in a more critical 
mood they would have noticed that in the matter of out- 
ward appearances and rigid nautical pomp the Portu- 
guese vessels suffered not a little by comparison. These, 
having started ill-prepared and in haste, were now soiled 
and untidy naval ducklings. 

The interiors of their hulls were in no better case. 
There, most decidedly reigned no evidence of intrinsic 
glory. In some respects the voyage had proved probably 
the most unique undertaken by any ordinary people, to 
say nothing of royalty. So fevered had been the em- 
barkation at Lisbon that many ladies found themselves 
without a single change of garment with which to face 
these thousands of miles of travel! And — a horror of 
horrors that at all costs had to be kept from the worship- 
ing Brazilians! — this applied not only to ladies of high 
degree but to the female members of the royal party it- 
self. 

In mid-ocean, when the state of affairs could no longer 
be borne with equanimity, appeals had been made from 
the royalty-freighted Portuguese vessels to the Marlbor- 
ough. Captain Moore had shown himself sjnupathetic in 



288 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

this delicate situation, and had rendered such assistance 
as he could. But even in their most thoughtful moments 
British naval commanders do not — or, at all events, are 
not supposed to — carry spare outfits for ladies. Never- 
theless, his men seem once again to have more than justi- 
fied their willing and handy reputation. Cloths, sheets, 
and blankets were produced, and these eventually took 
the place of many silks and satins. 

Whether Jack actually went the length of assisting 
with the needle, I do not know. Yet I can imagine a 
boatswain's mate, surrounded by sewing satellites, tack- 
ling even such tender technicalities as these with a calm 
resolution before which the sangfroid of even the sewing- 
machine pirate in ** Peter Pan" would pale ! As for the 
bed-sheet-suit in which Prince Pedro and many others 
landed on Brazilian soil, I would wager ten dozen of the 
finest Bahia oranges that these were stitched together by 
one of the watches of the British vessels ! 

In any case the proceedings on shore could have left 
the royal party very little leisure to reflect on their impro- 
vised garments. For Joao, whose exit from Portugal had 
of necessity been as rapid and furtive as that of a hunted 
rabbit, found himself welcomed in this glorious tropical 
country with even greater acclamation and more joyous 
pomp than any ordinary crowned hero of a hundred 
fights! Thus the strange, and occasionally comforting, 
vicissitudes which attend the lives of princes as well as 
those of lesser folk must have been brought strongly 
home to him. 

A month later the four British guardian ships escorted 
the Portuguese royal vessels still further to the south, and 
after nine days at sea the fleet sailed through the narrow 
channel between the stately mountain peaks into the en- 
trancing and dreamlike harbor of Rio de Janeiro, and 
cast anchor before the houses of the town. 

It was one of the most lovely spots in all South America 
that the court of Portugal, somewhat awed and amazed 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL ^89 

at the aspect of the tremendous coast, landed at the time 
of year when the fierce summer's sun rays were just be- 
ginning to give way to the rains of autumn. 

Here was a magnificent opportunity for an epigram 
from the royal lips, or, failing a full-blown epigram, some 
lesser utterance which might at least have set a princely 
seal on an event which was actually of first class histori- 
cal importance. But there exists no evidence that he 
did not fail to miss the opportunity ! Perhaps — ^like many 
ordinary travelers before and since that event — ^he was 
fully and honorably occupied in gaping at the majesty 
of the scene. In any case he did not forget to adorn Cap- 
tain Moore's breast with the Portuguese Order of the 
Tower and Sword, as a token that the British squadron's 
task, now completed, had been successfully performed. 

It soon became evident, however, that this duty was 
merely a preliminary to a long spell of duty for the 
British fleet on the Brazilian station. Almost immedi- 
ately afterwards Sir W. Sidney Smith came out in the 
Foudroyant of 80 guns to take over the chief command, 
and the British vessels, serving Brazilian interests, were 
rather jealously nursed by the Brazilian authorities. 

In the meantime, having escorted the royal personages 
and seen the court safely established at Kio de Janeiro, 
we may as well take a turn ashore with the rest, and follow 
in the footsteps of the able Lord Strangford, the first of 
the corps of ambassadors to follow the royal family to 
its new capital. In its new and kingly circumstances it 
was clearly out of the question that the old colonial plan 
of secluding and guarding from foreign interference the 
trade of Brazil could be continued. The ports had been 
declared open; a new treaty was discussed and signed, 
and, egged on by Lord Strangford, the Portuguese began 
to make half -reluctant efforts to clear the great land of 
Brazil of its honored dust of centuries. 

An important feature of this treaty was that it accorded 
ecclesiastical rights to the British for the first time in the 



290 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

history of Portugal or Brazil. It permitted the British 
to build a church of their own, provided that its exterior 
architecture were in the form of a private house, and that 
no bells should sound above its still dubiously regarded 
roof. 

This concession was destined to raise a pretty flutter 
in the local ecclesiastical dovecot. As fate would have it, 
the papal nuncio was in Rio at the time it was made, and 
this nuncio cast a very jaundiced eye on the quite modest 
exhibition of liberality. Having failed to get it rescinded, 
he bethought himself of some counter-blasts. There was 
the Inquisition, which for the last half century had been 
in disuse in Lisbon, and which had never even been intro- 
duced into Brazil ! If the heretic church, why not the In- 
quisition by its side ? It was an ideal moment, urged the 
earnest nuncio, for the reestablishment of that much 
needed tribunal. What could be more effective in the 
way of corrective medicines, he may have added, than a 
stout and straining rack, a trusty **boot," or a really re- 
liable spiked * ' Virgin, ' ' with a few odd thumbscrews and 
minor persuaders to fill up the gaps! But even such 
tempting offers as these proved of no avail, and the mor- 
tified cleric had, perforce, to watch the obnoxious building 
rising under his very nose ! 

The bishop of Rio de Janeiro, on the other hand, took 
quite a different view of this first English church to be 
erected in Iberian South America. He openly admitted 
that he had no objection whatever to its presence. *'The 
English, ' ' he argued with an authority that was perhaps 
half grave and half jocular, ''have really no religion, but 
they are a proud and obstinate people. If you oppose 
them they will persist, and make it an affair of infinite 
importance ; but if you concede to their wishes, the chapel 
will be built, and no one will ever go near it. ' ' 

This was probably a very subtle bishop. His own point 
of view, at all events, seems to have been justified by the 
remarks of the Rev. R. Walsh, a pleasant writer, who 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 291 

was chaplain of tlie embassy at Rio some twenty years 
later. 

''This argument," complains Walsh, *'had its weight, 
and the Brazilians say he was right, for the event has 
verified the prediction." 

The expenses of this new church were met in a fashion 
of which examples are to be remarked in the British "fac- 
tories" at such places as Lisbon, Oporto, Madeira, and 
elsewhere. By a voluntary tax on their own goods the 
British merchants provided funds for the building and 
upkeep of the church, the stipend of the chaplain, and for 
purposes of general charity. 

This brings us to the topic of the British mercantile 
community, which was now established at Rio, having the 
advantage of a special judge, a Juiz Conservador, whose 
business it was to attend solely to their affairs, and to 
see to it that justice was done them. 

Whatever their chasteners may say of the enterprise of 
the British merchants of the present day, their ancestors 
showed no lack of the quality then. No sooner were the 
commercial doors of Brazil flung open than the traders 
rushed through with all the enthusiasm of a modern queue 
besieging the early doors of a theater. Not only did they 
board every available ship and come bobbing merrily 
southward over the Equator, but they sent their goods 
with more zeal than discrimination. As to their wares, 
they came and still they came, in brig, barquentine, and 
full-rigged ship, until private houses were impressed into 
the service to act as auxiliaries to the choked warehouses, 
and the eyes of the people of Rio grew very round and 
still more brilliant at the astonishingly high and pleasant 
rents that their stones and mortar now brought them in. 

As for the customs-house, its building was overflowed 
and swamped in the very early days of the commercial 
rush, and very soon the despairing officials abandoned the 
attempt to cope with their task. Truth to tell, at that 
period the first result could be achieved by quite modest 



292 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

shipments, and the second by even the faintest pressure 
of hard work ! But the results were unfortunate for the 
shippers. As the forest of masts thickened over the 
bright waters of the bay, so did the heaps of strewn mer- 
chandise extend further along the beach. According to 
an eye-witness, these were some of the objects which lit- 
tered the shore : salt, casks of ironmongery and nails, salt 
fish, hogsheads of cheese, hats, small mountains of vari- 
ous-sized crates, hogsheads of earthen and glassware, 
cordage, bottled and barreled porter, paints, gum, resin, 
tar, and an almost infinite catalogue of other objects. At- 
tached to these first shipments were what might be termed 
some side-harvests of profit for those shrewd folk who 
understood the art of profiting from other people's mis- 
fortunes. For vast quantities of goods damaged by rain 
and sun, and vast quantities that were not, were sold, os- 
tensibly for the benefit of the underwriters, but in reality 
for that of the overjoyed Portuguese and Brazilians who 
bought them for a song ! 

That some of these objects should have realized a small 
price was natural enough. Some of the manufacturers 
had permitted their enthusiasm to outrun their geographi- 
cal and climatic knowledge. Thus the aspect of those pa- 
thetic consignments of stoves and warming pans would 
have moved the soberest Brazilian to violent hilarity had 
he had the faintest understanding of their purpose. But 
when it came to steel skates, such as actually arrived in 
considerable numbers in the first ships, all comment ends 
— what was to be said to these ! 

But trust a new land to improvise uses for even the 
most unpromising objects ! Very soon the warming pans 
found themselves very much in their element, for, handled 
by perspiring Negroes, they were used to skim the scum 
from the surface of the boiling sugar. The skates served 
occasionally as door-latches; but their steel was more 
frequently fashioned into knives, and often employed for 
far more heated purposes than the innocent maker of the 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 293 

skate had ever suspected! Far more appropriate were 
some invitation cards decorated with the rose, the sham- 
rock, and the thistle, which, distributed for the official 
opening of the senate house, caused a natural and puzzled 
flutter of delight among the British community until it 
was discovered that the simple and unsophisticated reason 
for their employment — like that given by the man called 
Brown for his wearing of the Macpherson kilt — was that 
they happened to have been bought ready made, and paid 
for! 

But these land affairs have caused us to overshoot the 
course of the navy. Most of this time Sir W. Sidney 
Smith, in command of the British fleet, was acting the part 
of marine guardian angel in the harbor of Rio de Janeiro, 
while Joao, appreciating the security thus offered, played 
the part of a solicitous mother fowl toward his defenders. 
The officers of the British fleet on the Brazilian coast were 
apt to complain that the station was too inactive a one. 
It is certain that the regent dreaded the British vessels 
putting out to sea. Occasionally, however, they would 
slip out, and that fine 64 ship the Agamemnon continued 
to indulge in at least one important cruise in spite of the 
prince's anxiety. 

On this cruise she correctly ascertained the situation 
of the rocks of Martin Vaz and the Island of Trinidad. 
On this latter island the Agamemnon had an unexpected 
find. Here they discovered seven men of the crew of an 
American whaler, who had existed on the island for 
eighteen months. They had been landed in order to effect 
a cure for scurvy, and their vessel, lacking a good anchor- 
age, had been blown away from the spot in a gale. So 
here they were, seven exact models of Robinson Crusoe, 
clothed from head to foot in hairy goatskins, and each 
with an eighteen months ' growth of beard of his own. 

These seven exiles were staunch-hearted fellows, for 
they refused to be taken off by the Agamemnon, feeling 
certain that their own vessel would return to fetch them. 



294 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

One can only hope that their faith was suitably rewarded. 

As for the Agamemnon herself, in 1809, the following 
year, this fine vessel. Nelson's favorite ship, was wrecked 
to the south of Brazil on an island in the neighborhood of 
the river Plate. 

There was a greater difference between the tropical 
cruising of the early nineteenth century and of the early 
twentieth than the average landsman realizes. Salt junk 
and weevil-haunted biscuits have come down with popular 
tradition, of course. But there was far more than that. 
Here, for instance, is Mr. Walsh's description of the mid- 
shipmen's quarters on board of H.M. frigate Galatea, 
in which he was invited to dine, and where he appears 
to have spent a very enjoyable hour or so : 

''They were divided into two messes, the larboard and 
the starboard. These were little recesses boarded off on 
each side of the mainmast, lighted by bull's-eyes, but so 
faintly that it was necessary to have candles at mid-day. 
It was so intensely hot, that we were all obliged to strip, 
and dine in our trousers and shirts. ' * 

Nevertheless Walsh found among their good company, 
none of those mannerisms such as had been depicted by 
Congreve and Smollet. So, you modern landsmen, when 
you next picture one of these fine frigates heeling her 
stately pile of canvas to the trade wind, or standing up 
in the breathless air straight as a pillar of pearl, remem- 
ber that the life of her midshipmen down below was not all 
beer and skittles — to say nothing of ice, electric fans, and 
fresh air I 



CHAPTER XV 

THE BRITISH IN BEAZIL (ll) 

An entertainment on board H.M.S. London in Rio Harbor — Symbolical 
decorations — A feat in toasts — ^Prince Joao honors Sir W. Sidney 
Smith — Withdrawal of the regular fleet — ^Lord Beresford arrives with 
a British squadron — Life on the Brazilian station — An American 
critic on the court at Rio — ^The opera — A mixed chorus — Joao VI and 
a mercantile captain — Incidents during the visit of the Emperor Pedro 
II to an American passenger steamer — Unexpected welcome on the part 
of the City of Pittsburg's steerage passengers — Some difficulties of 
British naval commanders on the Brazilian coast — ^Imagined grievances 
— Necessity for tact — Incidents at Rio and at Maranhao — A lesson 
at Pernambuco — Arrival of Lord Cochrane — Difficulties of his situa- 
tion as commander-in-chief of the Brazilian navy — His crews — The 
fleet in Rio harbor — Commander James's description of Cochrane — 
Alleged recruiting methods of the latter — Opinion of the British officers 
— Capture of Bahia — Pursuit of the Portuguese fleet — ^Local disturb- 
ances at Para — The riot crushed by Captain Grenfell — Piinishment of 
the ringleaders — Terrible fate of a number of prisoners — ^Various ex- 
planations of the tragedy — Cochrane's relations with the Brazilians — 
He is created Marquis of Maranhao — Extraordinary findings of the Rio 
prize court — Cochrane's return to England — The manner in which he 
reimbursed himself. 

WHILE in Rio Harbor Sir W. Sidney Smith de- 
termined to celebrate his Britannic Majesty's 
birthday with all fitting honors. The Lon- 
don, profusely decorated and beflagged, and with her 
quarterdeck hung with the royal standards of England 
and Portugal, was the scene of an elaborate entertain- 
ment. Prince Joao honored the occasion with his pres- 
ence, and by way of a flattering attention that part of the 
deck reserved for him was covered with French flags. 
So that — ^whatever those ridiculous Frenchmen might be 
doing with his country in Europe ! — Joao could at least 
enjoy the satisfaction of saying that he had stamped on 
their colors in Rio Harbor ! 

295 



296 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

In the course of the toasts at the subsequent banquet 
the prince regent set himself a high standard in the way 
of optimism when he began with: ''The King of Eng- 
land! May he live till time shall be no more!" There 
seems, unfortunately, to exist no record as to how far 
this graceful feat of enthusiasm was rivaled in the suc- 
ceeding toasts. 

When the entertainment was drawing to a close Joao 
performed one of those peculiarly graceful acts of which 
his paradoxical character was capable from time to time. 
It was the hour of sunset, and the flags were about to be 
lowered. He seized the opportunity to request that the 
Portuguese standard which had been floating on the Lon- 
don might be brought to him. Six seamen bore the flag 
to him, and he commanded that it should be laid on the 
deck. Then he turned to the Admiral, and addressed a 
short speech to him : 

"Admiral, your advices which I received by despatch 
gave me information that Portugal had in part been taken 
possession of by the French ; such intelligence convinced 
me I was betrayed ; but to you. Admiral, I and my family 
owe our liberty, and my mother her crown and dignity. 
We are this day come on board the London to celebrate 
his Britannic Majesty's birthday; and on this joyful oc- 
casion my royal standard has had the honor to fly at the 
masthead of the London in conjunction with that of Eng- 
land. It now lies on the deck ; and permit me to return 
you and the officers thanks for all the services which you 
and they have conferred on myself and family. Accept 
this standard from me, and from henceforth quarter the 
arms of my house with those of your own : it will remain 
a memorial for your posterity that your exertions pre- 
served us from falling into the snare which Buonaparte 
had laid for our destruction." 

Whatever Joao may have lacked in dignity, none can 
deny that this high honor to the British admiral was 
fittingly and royally bestowed. When Sir W. Sidney 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 297 

Smith left the Brazilian station, after some eighteen 
months of command there, it was as a Knight Grand 
Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword. He was 
succeeded in his post by Admiral de Courcy. 

There were occasions, of course, when the Brazilians 
had an opportunity of seeing that sea-power is not a 
mere matter of bunting, awnings, and trim uniforms, 
but that it was a possession for which the greatest price 
of all had to be paid. For instance, when on a windy 
summer's day of 1812 the Java frigate engaged the 
superior force of the United States ship Constitution, and 
fought on until she was little more than a heap of wreck- 
age on the water, with nearly half her crew out of 
action, when no option remained but to strike. It was 
shortly after this that the astonished inhabitants of Bahia 
saw the tragic boat come ashore which held the gallant 
Captain Lambert of the Java, who died in a hospital from 
his wounds a few hours later. 

As we are now back again on the warm blue waters 
of the Brazilian coast we may as well remain there until 
we have done with the part played by the British fleet 
in the early days of royal Brazil. In those days, as has 
already been explained, the king of Portugal was scarcely 
ever without the attendance of British battleships and 
frigates. It is true that, on the exile of Napoleon to 
Elba the regular squadron was withdrawn from Rio, and 
the land stores sold, but the subsequent visits of the 
British ships continued almost without intermission. 

In 1816 Lord Beresford appeared in the harbor of 
Eio in command of a British squadron which was to 
convey Joao back to his European throne. But when 
it came to the point of actual departure the vacillating 
king demurred, and the persuasions of neither the British 
ambassador nor of Lord Beresford could move him to 
embark. 

On the whole, life on the Brazilian station could scarcely 
fail to be languorous. Those of the officers who appre- 



298 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

ciated landscape had their fill of its beauties. There 
was a certain amount of shore entertaining, shooting, 
and deep-sea fishing. From time to time there would 
occur a national festivity in which it was necessary for 
the ships to take part, when the ships' guns would reply 
to those of the batteries, when the bunting afloat would 
vie with the elaborate triumphal arches ashore, and when 
the illuminations at night would prick out dazzling, fairy 
ships against the soft and dim purple of the tropical 
night. On these occasions such North Americans as were 
present would regard with rather a jaundiced eye such 
proceedings in honor of an intrusive royalty on the 
republican soil of the Americas. According to Mr. 
Brackenbridge, one of these critical spectators: *' Kings 
are very slow in adopting of the age in which they live. 
They are almost as hard to civilize as are North American 
Indians. I saw a great many of the nobles running to 
and fro, and from the richness of their decorations I 
judged of very high orders, such as gentlemen of the 
bedchamber, grooms of the stole, and royal rat-killers. 
I wish I could speak with respect of these things, but from 
my soul I cannot." This, however, is by the way. 

There was, too, that rather curious institution, the new 
Rio opera, or rather ballet. Since this was one of the 
first theaters ever erected in South America, it would 
be unfair to judge it severely. Nevertheless, the varie- 
gated complexions of these ladies of the ballet, sliding 
up the color scale from deep black to a cafe~au-lait tint, 
with an occasional startling fairer flower in the ranks, 
must have been fully appreciated by the festal inhabi- 
tants of the various gunrooms when ashore on leave. 
Rio of the early nineteenth century was not the Rio of 
to-day ! 

Royalty itself in Brazil suffered some experiences 
which would have occasioned " some mild horror in the 
European society of that period. For instance, the cap- 
tain of a British mercantile vessel who bore tidings from 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 299 

politically disturbed Portugal was admitted to the pres- 
ence of the King in order that the latter might learn 
the news. When the interview was over Joao VI ex- 
tended his hand in order that a respectful kiss might 
be pressed upon it. But the honest sailor, who under- 
stood nothing of such civilities, grasped the royal hand 
in his own (presumably) tarry fingers, and pumphandled 
it with painful cordiality. But the King, though shaken, 
accepted the catastrophe in a philosophical spirit ! When 
his courtiers would have intervened he bade them let the 
strange man have his way. 

A later contretemps of a somewhat similar order is 
related by Messrs. Kidder and Fletcher. In 1852 a fine 
new United States passenger steamer was on its voyage 
to California by way of the Straits of Magellan. During 
this vessel's stay at Eio de Janeiro the Emperor Pedro 
II was invited on board, and a brilliant reception was 
prepared for him. The Emperor and Empress arrived 
in due course, accompanied by a numerous suite in 
full court dress. Bunting waved ; music sounded ; flowers 
glowed ; the Emperor was greatly interested in the vessel, 
and the visit promised to be an unqualified success. 
Judge, therefore, of the dismay of the American charge 
d'affaires and the City of Pittsburg's captain, when the 
Emperor insisted on inspecting the forward deck, where 
reclined a host of perfectly unpolished steerage passen- 
gers who were on their way to the gold-fields. The re- 
mainder of the scene is best described in the author's 
own words: 

''The Emperor's attention, however, could not be di- 
verted to a different point ; and the Captain, fearing and 
trembling, was led to the forward-deck. There, upon the 
taffrail, sat representatives of the New York 'Mose,' the 
Philadelphia 'Killer,' and the Baltimore 'Plug-Ugly.' 
The Captain's heart sank within him: he was proud of 
his ship, proud of his illustrious guest, but he had very 
little to be proud of in some of his passengers — espe- 



300 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

cially the unkempt and unterrified, who were even more 
picturesque after their voyage than upon election-day. 
The Emperor now approached the sovereigns — ay, near 
enough to have them 'betwixt the wind and his nobility.* 
Then occurred a scene, rich beyond description, which 
could never have taken place with others than Americans 
for actors. One of the unshaven, whose tobacco had, up 
to this time, occupied the greater portion of his mouth 
and thoughts, suddenly tumbled from the taffrail, dis- 
charged his quid into the ocean, and, hat in hand, yelled 
forth in a well meaning but terrific voice, 'Boys, three 
cheers for the Emperor of the Brazils!' In a twinkle of 
an eye every Calif ornian was upon his feet; and never, 
in their oft-fought battles for the 'glorious Democracy,' 
did they send forth such round and hearty huzzas as they 
did that day to D. Pedro II. The suddenness, the ear- 
nestness, the good intention, and the enthusiasm of the 
whole procedure were most mirth-provoking. The Cap- 
tain's fears subsided: his pons asinorum was crossed, 
and he took breath and laughed freely. The Emperor 
returned the impromptu salute with great respect, and 
for the occasion, with becoming gravity." 

As the internal politics of Brazil tended to grow more 
involved, the situation of the British naval commanders 
naturally became proportionately difficult, more espe- 
cially when some of the provinces began to rebel against 
the central power at Eio de Janeiro, and when the Bra- 
zilians were occupied in severing the ties which bound 
them to Portugal. A short digression is necessary in 
order to explain the general situation which prevailed 
at that time. 

In the early years of the nineteenth century the Spanish 
and Portuguese South American colonies were respec- 
tively undergoing very different species of metamorpho- 
sis. Those of Spain were occupied in transferring them- 
selves into republics, while the great country of Brazil was 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 301 

learning to be a kingdom. At this period British sym- 
pathies were, by force of circumstances, rather curiously 
distributed. In Spanish South America their leanings 
toward the patriot cause were sufficiently patent — not- 
withstanding a rigid neutrality of action — to cause con- 
siderable irritation among the remnants of the Spanish 
power in Peru. 

In Brazil, on the other hand, when friction arose be- 
tween the new kingdom and the mother country, the 
Brazilians were wont to complain that the attitude of the 
British was unduly favorable toward the Portuguese. 
Here again, there seem to have been no actual grounds 
for complaint. At the same time, apart from any side- 
issue of sentiment or policy, it is only natural that the 
sympathies of the British fleet should have lain with 
our most ancient ally — and this notwithstanding the work 
which Cochrane had achieved. 

This sense of grievance, however, had by no means 
departed when an international incident made it neces- 
sary for the British fleet to blockade Eio Harbor. The 
presence of the men of war on this stern mission caused 
no little indignation. 

*'We must seize all your ships in our harbor," ob- 
served an indignant inhabitant of Eio to Walsh, ** con- 
fiscate all your property in the country, and fit out your 
merchantmen as privateers to cruise against your com- 
merce in other places." 

These frank views are at all events instructive as to 
the contemporary Brazilian idea of the relative naval 
forces of Brazil and Great Britain! 

Indeed, the post of a British commander on the Bra- 
zilian station in the first quarter of the nineteenth cen- 
tury called for no little tact. This was most of all the 
case in the North, where the ordinary complications were 
added to by the periodical rebellions against the central 
authority of Rio de Janeiro. In the course of such actual 



302 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

warfare questions were continually cropping up con- 
cerning the protection of the British residents, many of 
whom enrolled themselves in a cavalry corps. 

An instance of this occurred in 1824 at Maranhao when 
the house of a Mr. Hesketh, an English merchant, was 
forcibly entered by the local authorities. As a hint con- 
cerning the unwisdom of such procedure, his Majesty's 
sloop of war Eclair, which happened to be at the port, 
shifted her berth so as to approach the shore and con- 
trol the place with her guns. In the meantime an apology 
was obtained from the local rebel authorities for the 
occurrence. But the Junta felt itself outraged at the 
action of the British, and seriously debated as to whether 
it should not confiscate the Eclair 's rudder in punish- 
ment of this too close and too unceremonious an ap- 
proach ! The discussion, however, does not seem to have 
touched on the topic concerning the ways and means by 
which this was to have been effected. 

A few months later Captain Johnstone of the Eclair, 
now in command of the 42-gun frigate Doris, found him- 
self off rebellious Pernambuco when that port was being 
blockaded by a squadron from Rio de Janeiro. Here he 
found it necessary to take strong steps to prevent a repe- 
tition of a formal but groundless accusation to the effect 
that he had been supplying the royal vessels with pro- 
visions. Seeing that his categorical denial was received 
in an unsatisfactory fashion, he decided that the most 
efficient retort would be one which affected the pockets 
of his detractors. So he ''up with his anchor" and sailed 
to Bahia to complete the provisioning of his frigate, thus 
depriving the inhabitants of Pernambuco of the transac- 
tion and its profit ! 

We may conclude this naval section with the adven- 
tures of Lord Cochrane, who arrived in March, 1823, to 
take charge of the scanty fleet of the newly constituted 
Brazilian Empire in its struggle against the superior 
squadrons of the now hostile Portuguese. 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 303 

Cochrane threw himself with his accustomed energy 
into the task of building up an efficient fleet. A number 
of trading vessels were converted into warships, and 
the Eio dockyards awoke to the sound of hammerings. 
Cochrane 's present task was infinitely more difficult than 
the one he had just completed. As commander-in-chief 
of the Chilean navy, he had often had to put up with 
makeshifts in the way of vessels and equipment ; but he 
had invariably found himself supported by single-minded, 
enthusiastic, and heroic crews. 

In Brazil he found himself at least as well off in vessels. 
It was when the question of recruiting crews came about 
that the chief difficulties arose. The Brazilians not hav- 
ing yet learned to take an interest in their seas — or any 
one else's! — Cochrane had to depend for the manning of 
his marine upon such chance element as he could light 
on. Once afloat, the sympathies of many of these seemed, 
at the very least, to lie as much with the Portuguese 
as with the Brazilians — a condition of disinterestedness 
by no means laudable in a fighting force ! 

From the start the adventurous admiral had a good 
deal of trouble even with such crews as he possessed. 
A number of these were entirely unwilling to come to 
blows with the Portuguese, and in several cases — notably 
one in which an attempt was made to prevent the bring- 
ing up of ammunition to the deck during an action 
— certain of the dissatisfied elements made no attempt 
to conceal the direction in which their sympathies really 
lay. 

In the end Lord Cochrane 's resolute character pre- 
vailed, and he obtained as much control as it was pos- 
sible to assume over his heterogeneous crews. Then, 
pursuing his usual energetic policy, he prepared himself 
for the attack. His first object was the port of Bahia 
to the north, where the Portuguese naval and military 
headquarters were now situated. For this purpose he 
assembled a fleet consisting of the Pedro Primeiro, an 



304 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

80-gun ship, ten lesser vessels, and four armed mer- 
chantmen. 

As Cochrane lay in the bay of Rio de Janeiro on the 
eve of his departure it happened that H.M.S. Tartar was 
at anchor there too. Commander James, who was on 
board the British ship as a junior officer at the time, 
describes the appearance of the tall, red-haired Coch- 
rane as he came over the side to pay a visit, accompanied 
by his flag-captain, Crosby. 

Those who are curious concerning Cochrane 's uniform 
when in the Brazilian service may like to know that his 
surtout coat was surmounted by an embroidered collar 
and a pair of large epaulettes that supported silver stars. 
Over his right shoulder hung a broad, light-blue sash, 
while on his head was a gold-laced, cocked hat with a 
large cockade, and at his side he wore a strong and 
serviceable sword. 

I have already alluded to the great difficulty which 
Lord Cochrane was experiencing at the time in obtaining 
efficient crews. Some of the methods which he, or his 
subordinates, employed in the endeavor to overcome this 
appear to have earned for him the resentment of his 
fellow countrymen. That this was not unjustified, may 
be gathered from Commander James's remarks. The 
date of the episode was the 1st of April, 1823 : 

*'Lord Cochrane had boats cruising round the ship 
last night, and no doubt all over the harbor, to entice 
the men to run. We observed one several times pass 
this ship; and observing one coming we lowered a boat 
and examined him. At the same time we caught one 
of our men on the cue of going overboard. The fellow 
said he was going to join Lord C. as his surgeon to-mor- 
row, and made up a poor story. The lieutenant who 
went in the boat told him that if he caught him enticing 
any of the men away he would shoot him and Lord C. 
too. Our sentries, loaded with ball, have orders to fire 
at any one they might see swimming from us. If Lord 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 305 

C. really employed the boats, it shows him to be a mean 
fellow, as Captain Brown observed." 

No doubt the infinite resource of such strong charac- 
ters as that of Cochrane does not always add to the 
welfare or ease of mind of their neighbors ! 

At Bahia a few skirmishes took place, after which the 
Portuguese fleet took refuge under the guns of the forts, 
Bahia was now declared in a state of siege, and soon 
afterwards some fresh British officers and men arrived to 
assist Cochrane in his task. Of these officers the most 
notable were Captains Grenfell and Taylor. 

Bahia was now closely invested from the land side as 
well as from the sea. Eventually the Brazilians attacked 
the place from the land side and entered the city, while 
the Portuguese abandoned the spot, and their great fleet 
of seventy men-of-war, transports, and merchantmen 
stood out for the open sea. Cochrane permitted the 
armada to pass, and then pursued it relentlessly, cutting 
out prizes daily from the hapless fleet as it went on its 
northward flight, until the might of Portugal became a 
thing of the past in Brazil. Indeed, so persistent was 
Captain Taylor in his attendance on the fleeing vessels 
that, capturing a prize from time to time, he pursued 
them to the very mouth of the Tagus. 

In the meantime some serious outbreaks occurred at 
Para, where numbers of Brazilian soldiers got out of 
hand, and, breaking out into open rioting, endeavored to 
take advantage of the political situation. Having taken 
possession of the forts and barracks and military stores, 
they armed all those who would join them. Then, under 
cover of shouts of "Death to the Europeans! Long live 
independence and the Emperor Pedro!" they made for 
the palace of the governor, whom they deposed, and 
elected one of their own companions in his stead. 

Gangs of these ruffians then filled the streets in a 
determined search for the plunder which was their real 
object. They kept possession of the town for two days, 



306 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

when a naval contingent, under Captain Grenfell of Lord 
Cochrane 's squadron, appeared on the scene. An en- 
counter ended in the defeat of the rioters, of whom large 
numbers were captured. The next day Captain Gren- 
fell armed the inhabitants and dragged into the town 
eight pieces of artillery, manned by the Englishmen. 
The rebellious soldiers were ordered to lay down their 
arms and surrender, which at the sight of the cannon 
they did. They were then marched in two columns to 
the palace square, headed and flanked by volunteers, the 
artillery, and marines. 

Arrived at the square, they were arranged in columns, 
and the artillery had orders to fire should the prisoners 
resist the sentence passed. A body of cavalry, forty or 
fifty strong, who had not yet surrendered, galloped up 
at this moment, with the intention of charging and throw- 
ing the infantry into confusion. But when they saw the 
gunners drawn up, and the pieces in readiness to be 
discharged, they wavered, halted, and then laid down 
their arms. 

There were now five hundred disarmed men on the 
field. The rebellious soldiery were completely overawed, 
and everything was as still as death. A council of war 
and a court-martial followed. Stern measures were de- 
cided on, and five of the ringleaders were sentenced to 
be executed on the spot. 

These latter at first refused to take the affair seriously, 
and there were many who held the trial to be a mock 
one, but they were soon disillusioned and profound dis- 
may took the place of incredulity. When the time given 
them to prepare themselves for death had expired, the 
five were led to the front and executed before the assem- 
bled people. Decidedly this first stern act of justice of 
independent Brazil would never have been enacted under 
the nervous rule of Joao VI, who could never bear to 
sign the death warrant of a man, however criminal his 
deed! 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 307 

About two hundred and fifty of the prisoners were 
now sent on board a prize ship that was lying in the 
harbor. Then occurred a terrible, and in many respects 
inexplicable, thing. During the first night of their con- 
finement it is said that the sentry heard a great noise 
from the quarters where the prisoners were lodged. He 
ordered them to be quiet, but his voice was disregarded 
and the uproar continued. Moreover, it appeared that 
they were trying to force the hatches under which they 
had been battened down. In order to intimidate these 
prisoners, the sentry fired a shot or two, and in a short 
time all became quiet. 

The next morning on opening the hatches it was found 
that only four were alive of the two hundred and fifty, 
and that the dead were mutilated in the most horrible 
way! 

A good deal of mystery seems to surround this affair. 
One very improbable account runs to the effect that the 
unfortunate men went suddenly mad and killed each 
other in their delirium. Another relates that the Bra- 
zilians wished to murder some Portuguese prisoners who 
were with them, but had killed their own countrymen, it 
being too dark to distinguish one from the other clearly, 
and that this had led to a general battle. It is obvious 
that much has remained untold, since it is hardly con- 
ceivable that out of two hundred and fifty combatants 
every man, with the exception of four, should have suc- 
ceeded in killing the other! Yet, according to these 
accounts, this must have occurred, since it is said that 
the four survivors owed their safety to having hidden 
under some water casks all the time. The most probable 
explanation is that, by reason of some carelessness in 
the arrangements of the ventilation, the poor wretches 
perished from suffocation. 

That gallant stormy petrel. Lord Cochrane, was des- 
tined to find — as is frequently the lot of sailors and sol- 
diers — that his material rewards in Brazil were not alto- 



308 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

gether commensurate with the warmth of his reception 
or even with the honors conferred on him. The Emperor 
undoubtedly felt a warm admiration for the Admiral's 
feats, and created him Marquis of Maranhao. Even this 
honor, as a matter of fact, proved a bone of contention; 
for a prominent statesman, Antonio Carlos Andrada, now 
challenged the sovereign's right to confer this honor 
without the sanction of the House of Deputies, remarking 
that '' nobility unaccompanied by any corresponding 
power was an institution of which he would not compre- 
hend the object." 

In Cochrane 's case the shaft of this saying certainly 
went very wide of the mark. It is true that there were 
in existence just then large numbers of Brazilians re- 
cently ennobled for reasons which were entirely uncon- 
nected with any personal merit or achievements. But 
this could scarcely be said of the man upon whose strength 
the empire was relying for its freedom! 

As might have been expected, the crisis in the affairs 
of Lord Cochrane and his British oflScers arrived when 
the question of prize ships and prize money came to be 
taken into consideration. Cochrane waited patiently — 
for him! — while his fleet of prizes threatened to rot in 
the waters of Rio de Janeiro Harbor. At the best of 
times Pedro was temperamentally averse to parting with 
cash or with goods of any description. In the present 
circumstances, moreover, the enthusiasm attending the 
captures had largely evaporated. 

Finding himself now securely seated on the Brazilian 
throne, it had become Pedro's policy to conciliate Portu- 
gal rather than to annoy the mother country. It was 
just at this period that it was becoming noticeable that 
his sympathies were veering round toward the Euro- 
pean kingdom. A prize court was formed. The degree 
of good faith in which this body was disposed to act 
will be understood when it is explained that the majority 
of the members were Portuguese by birth ! 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 309 

That the findings of this court went against every one 
of the undeniable claims of Cochrane and his captains, 
goes without saying. But the proceedings went far be- 
yond this, and became purely Gilbertian. It was only 
a short while before that the Emperor had created Lord 
Cochrane Marquis of Maranhao on account of his naval 
victories. For having assisted in this campaign, and for 
having chased the Portuguese fleet to the Tagus and for 
having captured several of its vessels, the new prize 
court condemned Admiral Taylor to six months' im- 
prisonment and to the forfeiture of double the amount 
of prize money he claimed! Truly, without intending 
any meretricious pun, it might be said that this remark- 
able body constituted a surprise, rather than a prize, 
court ! 

Neither Cochrane nor his British officers had ever 
proved themselves men of a type to sit down quietly un- 
der wrongs such as these. The Admiral, as it happened, 
had some fairly weighty cards up his sleeve, and he 
found it the best policy to advertise the fact that he 
intended to keep them there. He accordingly announced 
his intention of retaining the specie captured in the course 
of the blockade of Bahia, as well as some ransoms ob- 
tained at Maranhao. Pedro himself now made a shrewd 
move. During a short absence of the Captain, his im- 
perial Majesty in person boarded Grenf ell's ship, and 
departed in some haste and considerable elation, having 
collected from the vessel a large sum of money obtained 
as ransoms for prizes at Para, which Grenfell had in 
the circumstances intended as recompense for himself 
and his crew. 

The fiery Cochrane 's rage at this treatment may be 
imagined. His exasperation was not decreased by the 
grumblings of his British subordinates. Nevertheless the 
Brazilians continued to avoid a payment in full of the 
sailors ' claims. It was not until the outbreak of a serious 
revolution at Pernambuco that the authorities proved 



310 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

themselves in the least amenable to reason. Then, see- 
ing that the rebels had managed to get together a small 
fleet of their own, the value of the foreign seamen and the 
justice of their claims at once became evident. A sum 
of money was collected and part of the arrears were 
liquidated, after which Lord Cochrane and his ofificers 
sailed to Pernambuco and proceeded to blockade the town. 

On this occasion Cochrane decided to run no financial 
risks. Having restored order out of chaos at Pernam- 
buco, his actions showed themselves devoid of red tape 
to a rather startling degree. He commandeered such 
prize money as he thought adequate for himself and his 
crew, and then in his flagship the Piranga he sailed 
straight home to Plymouth, where he received a warm 
welcome. The proceeding was, to say the least of it, 
irregular; but it served the Admiral's purpose. 

Cochrane arrived in England in the early summer of 
1825. His original engagement had been to serve Brazil 
until her independence had been acknowledged by Portu- 
gal. This did not occur until August, some three months 
later; so Cochrane left his Brazilian flag flying during 
the interval. He was still ready to be called upon, he 
explained. Doubtless he was; but the distance between 
him and Brazil was considerable. In the meanwhile the 
prize money remained his own and his crews ', to the un- 
bounded wrath of Pedro. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL (ill) 

Royalty in Brazil — Some stringent regulations concerning etiquette — Com- 
pulsory salutations — A collection of ludicrous incidents — Behavior of 
Dom Pedro — Episode related by Mr. H. M. Brackenridge — A meeting 
with the royal family — The Queen of Portugal and the United States 
Minister — A triumphant collision with autocracy — ^Violence of the 
Queen — Mr. Sumpter's resolution and its results — Intervention of King 
Joao VI — Curious ceremonies at Bahia and Pernambuco — Privileged 
Lisbon beggars — Fortunate recipients of free passages on men-of-war 
— The voyage of the warship Dom Joao VI — ^A British merchant's 
abode in Rio — ^His work and amusements — Opening of the Exchange 
— An early Tragedy — The trade in Bacalhao — Coinage and its by-prod- 
ucts — The British shop-keepers and their Brazilian colleagues — Re- 
spective qualities of the two — Ephemeral existence of the first news- 
paper — Private theatricals, ashore and afloat — Public-houses in Rio — 
Prejudice against mutton in Brazil — Dinner given with the object of 
destroying this — Hospitality of the Faisendeiro — Local reputation of 
the British for insobriety — Establishments of the interior — ^An expe- 
rience in a primitive household — Mr. Mawe's journey to the Diamond 
Mines — A negro and his supposed gem — Eventual disappointment — 
Mawe's experience at Barbacena — ^The ubiquity of British manu- 
factures. 

LET US now perform a feat possible only in print, 
and turn back a few years to the early events of 
tbis tropical court which the British navy had 
been instrumental in creating. 

The transference of this court was followed by some 
local results which the contemporary students of the 
Portuguese character could scarcely have foreseen. 
Perhaps it was the collision of royalty with the es- 
sentially democratic atmosphere of the Americas that 
brought about a number of explosions of a nature foreign 
both to the Brazilian soil and to the kindly Portuguese 
temperament ! 

311 



312 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

. It was undoubtedly part of the old colonial policy 
which caused the regulations for the exhibition of ex- 
ternal respect toward the royal family to be arbitrary 
and oppressive to a degree unheard of in Europe. The 
ethics of the street were included in these. When the 
royal family took its airings abroad it was the aim of 
the authorities to make the progress one of tremendous 
glamour and dignity. At the passage of a royal per- 
sonage humanity was commanded to fall as prone as 
autumn leaves! As a result, the inhabitants of Eio 
found themselves, whether they would or no — in the 
early days their enthusiasm was genuine enough — com- 
mitted to perfect debauche of obeisance. 

In actual practice, these regulations were made to 
apply to foreigners as well as to Portuguese and Bra- 
zilians, notwithstanding the fact that the King had de- 
clared publicly that he did not require it of any who 
were not his subjects. In spite of this, whenever a for- 
eigner or native chanced to meet any members of the 
royal family, he was obliged, if mounted, to dismount 
from his horse, and, if in a carriage, to alight with all 
speed. The *' Times" of November, 1818, has some inter- 
esting comments on this peculiar state of affairs: 

**Woe to him who is not able to do this quickly enough, 
for he will be dreadfully chastised by the servants who 
accompany him. It happened very lately that two mer- 
chants, the chief partners of a foreign establishment 
here, on meeting some of the royal princes, and relying 
on the ordinance of the King, did not dismount from 
their horses ; one of them, by the command of the young- 
est, a boy of fourteen, was severely beaten by a groom, 
and the other, a man of fifty, received from the Crown 
Prince himself, a blow from, his whip." 

This reveals a condition of affairs, where dignity would 
seem to rest with the assaulted rather than with the 
assailants, and certainly the transplanting of royalty 
seems to have had curious and exotic results, for the 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 313 

journal goes on with the still more astonishing state- 
ment to the effect that: **This same Crown Prince on 
another occasion did not consider it beneath his dignity 
to throw a stone at a foreigner, who, not knowing him, 
happened not to have taken off his hat I'* 

Those who have followed Dom Pedro's later career, 
with all its attributes of personal valor and unconscious 
buffoonery, resolution, and ridiculous want of humor, will 
experience less surprise in reading this than they would 
if the anecdote concerned a more ordinary prince. With 
such extraordinary evidences of a want of discipline in 
his youth, the wilder days of Pedro's subsequent life 
become explicable. 

An American writer, Mr. H. M. Brackenridge, has 
already been quoted. He was traveling to Eio de Janeiro 
on a mission from his Government in 1817, and on his 
first landing came into contact with Brazilian royalty. 
He describes his experiences with some satire. He was 
at the house of the United States minister, Mr. Sumpter, 
when he saw a cavalcade going down the road. A couple 
of dusky dragoons, whose faces showed traces of their 
Indian blood, galloped by, their swords rattling gallantly 
by their sides. These were followed at a considerable 
distance by a number of cumbrous and old-fashioned 
coaches. They contained the Queen, the princesses, and 
their suite. 

The procession came to a halt at the gate of the Ameri- 
can minister, and there the Queen and the princesses 
spoke in a familiar and friendly fashion with Miss Sump- 
ter. But for their guard and retinue, Brackenridge says 
he *' would have taken them to be the respectable class of 
citizens," which was no small concession from a traveler 
of his democratic caliber! In fact, our thorough-going 
republican confesses himself not unimpressed by the 
modest attire and behavior of these first royalties with 
which he was brought into contact. 

''Although," he says, **I had read a great deal of 



314 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

kings and queens and princesses, I had no idea that I 
should feel so little of that awe supposed to be pro- 
duced by the irradiations of majesty." 

Thus our chronicler — a very loyal and estimable re- 
publican, but faintly inclined to be intolerant — pats with 
some warmth the back that found so little trouble in 
remaining stiff and erect. This should not have been 
difficult, since, with the exception of the Queen's person- 
ality, there was very little formality about the party. 
The Princess Leopoldina, he says, was distinguished 
from the rest by the fairness of her complexion. He 
adds, however, that there was nothing remarkable in her 
appearance, and that there were thousands of his coun- 
trywomen that he would choose in preference for a 
wife, which confession seems to betray a leaning toward 
Mormonism ! 

It was, of course, a terribly servile manner of obeisance 
shown by the inhabitants — both civil and military — of 
Rio when in the early days of the kingdom they fell 
on their knees in the roadway at the sight of their sov- 
ereigns. But, at the very least, the guards who accom- 
panied the royal cortege would compel riders to dismount 
and to stand bareheaded. This crude method, as we 
have seen, was occasionally applied to foreigners, and, 
apparently, passed unresented in the majority of in- 
stances. It is even said that a number of the foreign 
ministers submitted to this — a most remarkable and quite 
inexplicable concession. But the American representa- 
tive was most decidedly not one of these. 

This latter, Mr. Sumpter, was determined to use every 
diplomatic means to preserve his dignity. He took every 
precaution to avoid meeting the royal cavalcade in the 
street. He was successful for a considerable time; but 
at last the day came when he found himself face to face 
with the cumbersome coaches and the outriding dragoons. 
It was the Queen who chanced to be taking an outing. 
Sumpter realized that the ordeal could no longer be 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 315 

avoided! Anxious to comply as much as possible with 
courtesy, the American minister halted his horse and 
saluted her Majesty. But this did not satisfy the Queen. 
With an imperious gesture she commanded her guards 
to compel him to dismount. This, let it be remembered, 
was the act of a sovereign toward a representative of 
a foreign and friendly power ! 

The dragoons advanced, and, seeing that Mr. Sumpter 
made no attempt to obey their shouts, they closed in 
upon him, brandishing their swords. The American min- 
ister stood prepared to defend himself with his stick, 
and this determined attitude was sufficient for the appe- 
tite of the tawdry-uniformed, but cautious dragoons, who 
retreated to the shelter of her Majesty's carriage: while 
her Majesty, for her part, continued her way in a huff. 

Immediately after this incident one of the Portuguese 
ministry called on Mr. Sumpter, and implored him to 
consider the effect his example would have on the other 
foreign ministers, who for their part might refuse to 
dismount and pay obeisance to the Queen! In view of 
this extraordinary plea it is evident that the ministers' 
plenipotentiary were considered rather in the light of 
school children liable to mischief! The American min- 
ister roundly declared his inability to guarantee the 
behavior of his colleagues in any way whatever. After 
tTiis he went armed and fully prepared for an encounter 
with the Queen's guard. 

Sumpter was a determined minister. On a second 
attempt being made to lower his dignity when he ran 
into this firebrand of a cortege, he all but blew a number 
of the royal escort out of existence. This time the matter 
was brought to the King. The Queen complained of the 
minister's insolence, and the minister complained of the 
Queen's insults. The King, very rightly, sided with the 
minister, and apologized, assuring him that no such 
childish yet dangerous experiments should be tried in his 
direction again. 



316 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

The Queen, however, was not content to let the matter 
rest here. Her notorious violence had never yet been 
tamed by any move on the part of her peace-loving hus- 
band. Whether by accident or design, only a few days 
after the King's apology, she again met the American 
minister in the street. On this occasion she was accom- 
panied by no less than twelve guards who advanced on 
the representative of the United States with the intention 
this time of really having it out with the stiff-necked, 
conscientious objector to the salute. Mr. Sumpter, noth- 
ing daunted, drew his pistols, and instead of running 
away, as the guard undoubtedly expected, dashed straight 
through them and arrived at the window of the Queen's 
carriage, with the escort, doubtless in a great hubbub, 
gesticulating and shouting behind. 

Mr. Sumpter appears to have taken no notice of them 
whatever, and they do not seem to have dared to approach 
him. He, for his part, was giving the Queen a most 
gratifying piece of his mind ; he told her in so many words 
that he refused to submit to these orders of hers, and 
that, to put the matter abruptly, he would prefer to 
remain on distant bowing terms. He left her, doubtless 
in a paroxysm of fury, and carried the matter directly 
to the King, who appeared much grieved, and insisted 
on making a personal apology. He imprisoned the 
guards and offered to punish them in any way which 
Mr. Sumpter should name. Seeing that the real culprit 
was beyond the reach of justice, the latter desired nothing 
of the kind, and, with this, the curious incident seems 
to have ended. 

As a matter of fact many of the customs which were 
encouraged in Brazil at this period were of a crude 
order, ill-calculated to appeal for any length of time to 
the expanding intellect of the Brazilian. 

In such ports as Bahia and Pernambuco it was fre- 
quently the portion of the British and other consuls to 
take part in some quaint ceremonies, one of which in- 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 317 

eluded an obeisance to the portraits of the Emperor and 
Empress, which were wont to be placed in state beneath 
a massive velvet canopy. As a matter of fact, this par- 
ticular part of one of these official receptions was usually 
omitted by the foreign consuls, although no other of the 
municipal guests would have dared to leave undone this 
significant ceremony, even had his feelings prompted to 
do so. 

It was inevitable that a certain amount of license should 
have attended the migration of the court from Lisbon to 
Rio de Janeiro. It is true that the Portuguese court 
brought to Brazil a considerable amount of social, artistic, 
and literary benefit. But even a court has its seamy 
side — or tail, as the case may be. In this case it was 
most decidedly a tail, since the seamy element was com- 
prised of the Lisbon beggars. Enterprising mendicants, 
these, to whose pilgrimages the great South Atlantic 
Ocean itself formed no barrier! 

Indeed, the devotion of these folk to the coins of the 
migrated nobility and of the rich colonists of Brazil 
appears to have known no bounds! It is said that no 
vessel ever left the Tagus, bound for Brazil, without 
its quota of these tactful gentry. But when it came to 
giving them free and official passages on men-of-war, the 
thing grew Gilbertian to a degree! Yet so it was, and 
the pressed crew of many a Portuguese frigate had to 
trim the vessel's sails in order that they might blow 
a crowd of these mendicants to their destination. 

One of the most notable instances of this was the sail- 
ing of the great warship Dom Jodo VI, which, after 
various unsuccessful attempts, succeeded in crossing the 
bar of the Tagus in 1820, carrying no fewer than twelve 
hundred passengers. A very large proportion of these 
were beggars. Many of them, it must be admitted, had 
smuggled themselves on board, and most of these, again, 
had provided themselves with no provisions whatever for 
the voyage! 



318 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

The conditions under which such a passage was car- 
ried out may be imagined. Short of water, food — and, 
indeed, of everything but filth — the ship staggered 
through the tropics in a completely insanitary condition. 
On its arrival, the colonial inhabitants of Rio protested in 
disgust that they had not thought it possible that such a 
shipload of vermin and beggars could have floated on 
the water! 

It is now time to take a glimpse at the Englishman, 
settled among the lovely surroundings and comforts of 
a lesser degree of the tropical ports. 

There appears to have been nothing ostentatious in the 
establishments of the early British merchants in Brazil. 
The ground floor of one of the ordinary massive hewn 
stone buildings was used as a storeroom for the goods. 
The first floor was mainly used as an office, and as a 
sample and show room, while above that again lived the 
merchant and his family. All this was natural enough, 
of course, for in those days even in London town the 
merchant had not yet promoted his social self away from 
his business premises! 

Blit the British merchant in Brazil, unlike his pre- 
decessor John Gilpin, found it necessary to take most 
of his pleasures at home. He would put up his shutters 
at about two o 'clock, and would prepare himself to dine. 
He would don a calico jacket for the occasion, and would 
follow the Brazilian fashion which made it obligatory 
to offer one of these cool garments to each of his guests, 
whether there were two or a dozen in number. Then 
would ensue the siesta — the two hours of blmding-white 
false night, when nothing stirred save the insects, and 
dogs, and the vultures wheeling in the sky. 

Then, when the sun had dropped to fringe the moun- 
tain tops, there would be a mild stir again in the com- 
mercial quarters of the establishment, and principals and 
clerks would get to work again in the matters of Man- 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 319 

Chester goods, silks, saddles, implements, and what not. 
Occasionally the merchant would set out to amuse him- 
self, and would play a game of quoits, imbibing — mark 
you ! — honest bottled porter in the rays of a burning 
sun that has taught his descendants a lighter, and per- 
haps less long, thirst. 

So much for the British merchant at home in Brazil. 
Very soon after his arrival the proper aids to commerce 
began to be established. 

An imposing exchange was opened in Eio in 1820 by 
the King, who chose his birthday as the date of the 
occasion. After listening to an address from the British 
merchants. King Joao and his family took part in the 
banquet, which was followed by a ball. 

In addition to its purely commercial uses, the building 
was occasionally used by the Brazilians for political pur- 
poses, and was shortly afterwards the scene of a mas- 
sacre, when the troops, without justification or warning, 
fell upon the inmates. In the confusion the caretaker, an 
Englishman of the name of Burnet, was fortunate enough 
to have his life saved by his snuif box. For a bayonet, 
viciously aimed at his waistcoat, would undoubtedly have 
penetrated that frail defense had not the massive lid of 
the box stayed the point ! 

A trade which now increased greatly between the Brit- 
ish and the Brazilians was that in Bacalhao, or dried cod 
— a flattened and completely desiccated fish which re- 
sembles a board in substance and a polecat in odor ! The 
taste for these had originally been acquired by the early 
Portuguese navigators, and cargoes of the odorous deli- 
cacy have continued to be brought over to Portugal by 
British vessels from the Newfoundland Banks from that 
period right down to the present day. Among the early 
British navigators this dried cod was known as ''Poore 
John, ' ' and as early as 1585 it is mentioned that Drake 's 
fleet on the way to South America captured a Spanish 



320 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

vessel laden with it — to the no small advantage of the 
tables of the English ships, as it was described as ''new 
and good." 

A certain quantity of this had always been consumed 
in Brazil; but the great influx of Portuguese, of course, 
who arrived with the court, tended for the first time to 
swell this trade to important proportions. 

Among the failings of the Brazilian cannot be counted 
a lack of shrewdness and intellectual agility. Yet on one 
occasion at least did the officials of the new kingdom of 
Brazil display a certain want of commercial astuteness 
which they must doubtless have subsequently regretted. 
For years, the large and ponderous copper coin of the 
Brazils was cut in Rio from sheet copper sent from Eng- 
land. As it happened, owing to the want of proper appli- 
ances in the Brazilian capital, the curved triangular inter- 
stices of the circles were left over, and the result was a 
most monumental waste of copper. 

An Englishman, noticing this, purchased all the waste 
pieces for a song, and made a practice of sending them 
back to England in order that they should be made up 
into fresh sheets of copper. After a very long time it 
occurred to the Rio authorities to have their coins sent out 
from England already cut — a resolution the wisdom of 
which was heartily applauded by the English middleman, 
who had already made a large fortune ! 

In Brazil of the early nineteenth century the English 
shopkeepers do not seem to have shared the solid repu- 
tation earned by their wholesale merchant brethren. 
"The worst shops," complains Hadfield, ''are kept by 
English, and this will be found a general rule in these 
foreign towns. The merchants are good and honest ; but 
if one wishes to be well taken in, go to a shop kept by 
an Englishman." But this was undoubtedly written in 
an unduly pessimistic moment. 

Nevertheless, the majority of contemporary writers 
agree concerning the excessive charges made by the Brit- 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 321 

ish shopkeepers. It is likely that these had an easy time 
of it so far as Brazilian competition was concerned. For 
the Rio shopkeeper of the period loved his ease better 
than his trade. Were he engaged in a friendly game of 
cards, he would refuse to cease on the entrance of a 
customer : it required something more, too, than so insig- 
nificant an entry to interrupt a friendly chat with a 
crony. It is true that at times he would yield to impor- 
tunity to the extent of requesting the customer to find 
the article for himself and to lay down his money — ^but 
he usually found it simpler to explain that he had nothing 
of the kind in his shop ! 

But beyond those who took part in the stereotyped 
branches of trade there were occasional free lances of 
industry. One of their number, a British sailor who 
resided at Praya Grande in the Bay of Eio de Janeiro, 
must have had as enterprising a mind as his brother 
mariner who first set up bathing machines in the strug- 
ling infancy of that now fashionable Argentine seaside 
resort. Mar del Plata. 

This other shellback, finding that race meetings were 
being held on the Botafogo beach in the early 1820 's, 
used to cross over in a boat, laden with refreshments, 
furniture, and a tent, and would set up a booth for the 
occasion. The benefits of this were fully appreciated by 
those attending the race meetings. Indeed, so solid were 
the profits that the sailor 's negro crew, on his last home- 
ward passage, murdered him in order to rob his body. 

It was estimated that the British community in Rio 
de Janeiro in 1830 amounted to some seven hundred 
people. They had already established a circulating 
library, and had founded their first newspaper — an ephe- 
meral publication that, lacking not only a public but an 
actual population, soon withered away! 

To the credit of these British let it be said that as 
early as the first quarter of the nineteenth century they 
had already devoted themselves to private theatricals for 



322 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the cause of various charities! As it was then, so it is 
now. After all it would seem that a box of properties 
and some of French's slender pink volumes are as much 
a part of the empire as the cricket bat, the football, the 
springy driver, and a sense of fair play. 

Indeed, the vessels themselves that fly the white ensign 
on the South American station have done their share in 
these theatricals, and of quite recent years there was a 
gallant light cruiser — so gallant has she proved herself 
since in the matter of powder and shot that she may take 
with equanimity any jest concerning mere powder and 
paint — whose officers, as soon as she dropped her hook 
in a harbor, were reputed to a man to sweep the shore 
with their glasses in search of a suitable private theater ! 
It was even alleged by her critics that a local revolution 
was once nipped in the bud by a threat of a performance 
of the '^Mikado"! 

To revert to the early nineteenth century, many enter- 
prising publicans in Rio had made it their business that 
the ordinary British sailor should feel at home when he 
landed. ''There are plenty of English pot-houses," says 
Mrs. Graham, in her ''Journal of a Voyage to Brazil," 
"whose Union Jacks, Red Lions, Jolly Tars, with their 
English inscriptions, vie with those of Greenwich or 
Deptford." 

When the British community had fairly settled down 
in Rio de Janeiro, its members began to ask themselves 
a not unnatural question. Why was there no mutton in 
Brazil? The prejudice against this meat, as a matter 
of fact, was as deep in that country as it was in Spanish- 
speaking South America. The carcass of a sheep might 
serve as tallow, manure, or even fuel — but, as for any 
portion of it gracing the meanest table — the Brazilian of 
the early nineteenth century would as soon have con- 
templated breakfasting on his grandmother ! 

A Mr. Duval gave a dinner party with the daring 
object of introducing the mutton to the Brazilian. The 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 

Rio guests came, saw, and made a polite attempt to 
conquer their aversion. Some reached the point of just 
tasting the despised flesh of the sheep, but there the 
matter ended. Nevertheless, this must have been the thin 
end of the wedge of mutton, for the intense antipathy 
afterwards began to lessen. 

It may be added that at this experimental banquet 
champagne was supplied as an antidote to the mutton. 
Many of the Brazilians, not previously acquainted with 
the vintages of Rheims, drank the champagne under the 
impression that it was an unusually pleasant species of 
beer — until an unexpected giddiness in their heads warned 
them that this strange new beer had a stranger bite ! 

Numbers of the early British travelers who penetrated 
into the Arcadian simplicity of the interior of Brazil bear 
witness to the remarkable hospitality of the landowner, 
the Fazendeiro. In those expansive three-bottle days the 
average British reputation for sobriety was a thing of 
no particular weight — not substantial enough, alas! to 
crush an ordinary Brazilian firefly ! The more ascetic of 
these British travelers had, of course, to submit to being 
tarred with the same brush of excessive joviality as the 
rest, and to have their persistent sobriety thrown in their 
faces in friendly reproach. No man, it was commonly 
alleged in the primitive backwoods of the country, could 
remain sober after dinner and at the same time be a good 
Englishman — a Bern Ingles! 

In the course of time, when these simple folk in the 
interior grew to know more of the British, their ideas 
concerning the behavior of these curious islanders grew 
less rigid, and they became accustomed to sitting down 
with him at table — where thQ dried cod and beef, chilis, 
mandioca, garlic, and the numerous other ingredients lay 
in the common dish at the mercy of fingers as well as 
of knives and forks — ^without necessarily counting on a 
single hiccough ! 

The ethics of most of these establishments were patri- 



324 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

archal, but occasionally, in those very primitive house- 
holds that lay at the "back of beyond" this simplicity — 
although it did not in the least interfere with the hospi- 
tality extended — assumed a form of frank distrust of 
the stranger which was embarrassing. Hadfield, for in- 
stance, states that after retiring to bed for the night, the 
overhearing of a conversation such as the following was 
no uncommon experience: 

"Wife. Zuza, have you bolted the stranger in? 

Planter. No, I forgot it ; but never mind. 

Wife. Never mind, indeed! But I do mind. Ger- 
trude ! 

Black Girl. 'Nhora! (meaning senhora). 

Wife. Get up, and bolt the door in the passage leading 
to the stranger's room." 

And then would follow the drawing of the bolts, and 
with the sound of this unusual serenade in his ears the 
stranger would have to compose himself to sleep. 

Mr. John Mawe, who wrote in 1825, relates a curious 
experience which he underwent in Brazil. He obtained 
permission to explore the diamond mines of Cerro do 
Frio. This was by way of being a considerable favor, 
which had so far been granted neither to any foreigner 
nor Portuguese. That which made his trip all the more 
interesting was the somewhat extraordinary happening 
which occurred on the eve of his departure. 

An African Negro of the Villa do Principe, about nine 
hundred miles from Rio de Janeiro, wrote to the Prince 
Regent. He possessed, it appeared, an astonishingly 
large diamond, which he begged the honor of presenting 
to his Royal Highness in person. As may be imagined, 
the offer was accepted, and an escort of soldiers was 
sent to guard the fortunate man on his way to Rio de 
Janeiro. 

His procession across the country was something in 
the nature of a triumph. His entourage already saw him 
a blaze of crosses and decorations, and his escort rejoiced 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 325 

in the certainty of promotion. In fact, the Negro and 
his diamond proceeded on their way in a flash of glory. 

When the time came for him to be admitted into the 
royal presence, the dusky donor flung himself at the feet 
of the Prince, and handed over his gem. The gasp of 
astonishment with which this was viewed must, in one 
sense, have repaid the poor man for all his travels. The 
thing was, apparently, a marvelous round diamond, of 
nearly a pound in weight! Therefore the stone was 
worth millions of pounds sterling ! 

A tremor of rejoicing filled the room in which it shone, 
and presently the astonishing gem was sent to be locked 
up under a strong guard. Presently also, alas! sus- 
picions as to the genuineness of this gargantuan jewel 
became aroused, and Mawe himself was asked by the 
Conde de Linhares to view it. The visitor was led 
through apartments hung with scarlet and gold until he 
came to one abounding in strong chests, each of which 
possessed three keys, held by three different personages. 

From the recesses of one of these the great jewel was 
produced, and Mawe, who appears to have been some- 
thing of an expert, was obliged, somewhat to his embar- 
rassment, to announce the thing a mere worthless crys- 
tal ! The shining bubble had burst, and so had the fame 
of the Negro! The unfortunate black returned to his 
home minus his escort of soldiers, and without a single 
decoration. He was doubtless an honest man, who re- 
gretted the day he had dabbled in supposed jewelery ! 

This Mr. Mawe, it may be mentioned, experienced some 
sufficiently amusing adventures on his travels into the 
unsophisticated interior of Brazil. Thus in 1809 at the 
small town of Barbacena he found himself an object of 
intense curiosity. The shops of the place were stocked 
with British goods — articles which the inhabitants had 
already learned to regard with admiration. But never 
before had they had the opportunity of gazing upon an 
Englishman — one of those curious creatures capable of 



326 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

manufacturing these marvelous objects which of late had 
lit down upon them from the skies — and they were deter- 
mined to make the most of their time ! 

In this respect Walsh utters some remarks concerning 
the town of Villa Eica, which I much doubt could be 
repeated with the same fervor to-day. The place, he 
says, had shops '' filled with a great variety and good 
assortment of all kinds of ware ; cotton goods from Man- 
chester, broad-cloths from Yorkshire, stockings from 
Nottingham, hats from London, and cutlery from Shef- 
field, actually sold in the heart of the mountains of South 
America, as abundant and almost as cheap, as in the 
towns where they were manufactured; and when I saw 
about me everywhere the produce of the labor of our 
hands, I could not help exclaiming with ^neas, and with a 
more literal application, Quae regio in terris nostri non 
plena lab oris." 

Returning to the topic of the Brazilian mines, it may 
be said that some seventy miles to the north of this 
town of Villa Rica were the Gongo Soco mines, which, 
together with some other properties of the kind, were 
purchased in 1825 by the Imperial Brazilian Mining 
Association, of London. At one time no less than one 
hundred and eighty British miners were working at the 
spot, which, it was hoped, would soon expand into a 
regular Cornish village in the interior of Brazil. The 
enterprise was under the supervision of a Mr. Tregoning 
and a Captain Lyons, the latter presumably a mine- 
captain. A church was begun at the place, and the 
Bishop of London appointed a chaplain to proceed there. 
But the expectations to which the venture gave birth do 
not seem ever to have been realized. 



CHAPTER XVn 

THE BRITISH IN BEAZILi (iv) 

Establishment of the Brazilian regular army — Arrival of British officers 
— The introduction of the Irish soldier-agriculturists — Enthusiasm 
with which the proposal was received in Ireland — The voyage to the 
South — Arrival of the Irish in Brazil — Disappointment which awaited 
them there — Bitter experiences of the newcomers — Friction between 
the Irish and the negroes — ^Aggressive attitude of the latter — Affrays 
in the streets of Eio — The species of Justice meted out to the Irish — 
Their impossible siuation — ^The Emperor Pedro and the Hibernian 
immigrants — Curious incident at Mass — Rising of the Irish — Scenes in 
the streets of the capital — Attitude of the authorities — Panic-stricken 
officials — Work of the rabble — End of the insurrection — A number of 
the Irish return to their own country — Ultimate success of those who 
remained — Walsh's description of an idyllic homestead — Experiences 
of some foreign officers in the Brazilian regular army — Admiral 
Grenfell — His early days and career in South America — He joins the 
Brazilian navy — His services against Argentina and the Southern 
rebels — As rear-admiral, he becomes Consul-General to Great Britain 
— Further services in Brazil and England — ^Impetuosity of the 
Emperor Pedro I — His eccentricity in private life — How he pro- 
vided a new constitution for Portugal within a week — The fount of 
his knowledge of the English language — The unconscious linguistic 
solecisms of the royal couple. 

THE reorganization of the Brazilian forces on the 
withdrawal of the European troops had been no 
light matter. On the departure of the Portu- 
guese battalions the sole national force of Brazil was 
the militia, a very moderately efficient body. Strenuous 
efforts were made, and with unusual promptness a bat- 
talion of artillery was formed of freed blacks, while a 
body of a thousand men was collected and sent to Bahia. 
In the province of Minas GersBS a cavalry regiment of 
six hundred men was equipped, and thus was established 
the beginning of the regular army of Brazil. 
In many respects, the Brazilians themselves, that is 

327 



328 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

to say, the descendants of the European Portuguese, were 
fiery enough when roused; but the inevitable indolence 
brought about by the climate did not tend toward enthusi- 
astic volunteering and to smartness in manoeuvering or 
drill. Pedro himself took a very active interest in the 
matter, and he is said to have been almost childishly 
pleased at the formation of a small corps of cavalry. 

A Colonel Bacon and a few other oflScers arrived from 
England for the purpose of organizing this, and very 
soon the nucleus of a cavalry regiment was established 
which was called the ''Queen's Lancers." The chief ele- 
ment, nevertheless, from which the Brazilian army was 
constituted was that of the negro, whose black battalions 
and officers have already been referred to. 

It was not long before trouble arose with the neigh- 
boring Spanish-speaking republic of Argentina. The old 
Spanish province of the Banda Oriental constituted the 
bone of contention. Hostilities broke out, and in order 
to increase the prestige of the Brazilian army the min- 
isters determined to offer inducements to Europeans to 
enlist. A considerable number of German troops were 
secured in this fashion, but the most dramatic, and, in- 
deed, tragic, of all the episodes of the kind was pro- 
vided by the unfortunate Irish who were induced to come 
out to Brazil in 1828 in the double capacity of agricul- 
turists and soldiers. 

The terms of the experiment certainly sounded alluring 
to the poverty-stricken Irish peasants. The Brazilian 
government proclaimed that every man was to receive 
pay equal to one shilling per day, as well as one pound of 
beef and one pound of bread as rations. In return, the 
immigrants were to be employed four hours each day in 
learning military exercises. They were to be ready to 
act as soldiers at any time, but should not be sent out of 
the Province of Rio unless in the time of war and in- 
vasion. At the end of five years they were to be dis- 
charged from military service and each was to become a 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 

farmer, pure and simple, and to have fifty acres of land 
assigned to him. However generous may have been the 
intentions of the Brazilian Government it is probably un- 
necessary to explain that fifty acres sound, and mean, far 
more in Ireland than in Brazil ! 

This proclamation, affixed to chapel doors in Cork, was 
received by the poor folk with exuberant joy, and the 
Irish peasantry said good-by to their pigs and peats, and 
prepared to flock to Brazil. Many even sold their farms 
and bought new agricultural implements with the pro- 
ceeds, imagining that their military service was to be 
something in the style of the local yeomanry, and that 
their farming operations might begin at once. 

There may have been a few undesirable characters 
among them, but the majority of the two thousand four 
hundred who proceeded to Bfrazil, and to an unfortunate 
fate, were decent and admirable folk, willing to work and, 
in fact, an excellent type of colonist. Among their num- 
ber, too, were skilled mechanics, who carried their tools 
with them; most desirable immigrants, these. 

These honest folk from the emerald isle took up the 
invitation of the Brazilian Government, and set out across 
the ocean, prepared to carry out every ounce of their 
share of the contract. Doubtless the news sent home 
from time to time from their flourishing kindred in the 
pastures of the river Plate had increased their confidence, 
and had made them bold enough to uproot themselves 
and their families for this momentous venture. 

So this great company of agricultural Irish set sail. 
Their spirits rose when they found that the vessels which 
awaited them were as well found and as bountifully pro- 
visioned as could possibly have been expected. So it was 
with high hopes that they sweltered in the tropics, braved 
the terrors of the doldrums, and eventually sailed between 
the peaks which guard the entrance of the beautiful har- 
bor of Rio. 

They had arrived, and with their arrival sounded their 



330 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

tragedy! They had been better off in the most storm- 
tossed hour of the voyage than in the calm and fairy- 
like beauty of the Bay of Rio. Briefly, nothing had been 
prepared for them. The fields that they were to till were 
— hidden somewhere or other beneath those enormous 
waves of virgin forest! The timber of the homesteads 
that should have awaited them was in the forest too, 
alive and verdant, and quite innocent of the ax ! 

The despair of the immigrants may be imagined when 
little by little it dawned on them that, not only had the 
stipulated accommodation not been prepared, but that it 
was highly unlikely that it ever would be. A fit of en- 
thusiasm had induced promises of energy; but in the 
calmer succeeding months the fulfilment of this had 
expired — stillborn! As it happened, too, Barbozo, the 
minister for war at the time of their landing, was vio- 
lently hostile to the foreigners and to the scheme in which 
they were involved. It was no doubt the influence of this 
man which went far towards creating the unbearable 
situation in which the immigrants subsequently found 
themselves. In the meantime, explained the courteous 
oflBcials, here was Rio, very much at the service of the 
Irish. Nothing remained for them but to make them- 
selves at home ! 

The rest of the story makes pitiful reading. The help- 
less Irish, humble and forsaken strangers in a strange 
land, were soon reduced to the verge of starvation. Thus 
these guests of the Brazilian Government — the victims of 
sloth rather than of conscious malice — were to be met 
with at the street corners of Rio, huddled in unkempt and 
miserable groups. In the end most of the men were pro- 
vided with wretched quarters and worse food. 

To crown the whole business, the very Negro slaves of 
Rio, rejoicing in the rare spectacle of a set of human be- 
ings in a more lamentable condition than their own, took 
to shouting insults at the hapless immigrants, and many 
a jeer oi"Escravos brancosi" — white slaves — came from 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 331 

the grinning African lips. From this point to that of ac- 
tual assault, the way was as easy as that favored by any 
other mob. Moreover, the blacks began to enter into the 
affair with a vastly increased zest as soon as the attitude 
of the minor officials of Rio grew clear. These had no 
sympathy whatever with the agriculturalists wrecked in 
the middle of a town ! 

This was made evident enough by their conduct after 
each of these affrays when the Irish had been set on by a 
horde of blacks. Then, they would snatch at every pre- 
text of imprisoning the Irish and of letting the Negro 
go free. Where they considered it unavoidable to im- 
prison both, they afforded the townspeople in general 
the edifying spectacle of witnessing these honest Irish 
peasants and yeomen — ^many of whom had actually sold 
their properties in order to take up land in this new coun- 
try — chained side by side with Negro prisoners, and thus 
set to enforced labor in the most degraded fashion. 

The inevitable results of this policy were not long in 
asserting themselves. After a time none of the Irish 
agricultural recruits, nor even their officers, could walk 
the sun-bathed streets of Rio without being assaulted by 
crowds of negroes. As for the people of the town, they 
seem to have looked upon the affair rather in the light of 
an amusement. Walsh was present in Rio at the time, 
and remarks that ' ' The people of the town looked on with 
satisfaction, and were frequently seen setting on the 
Negroes, as I have seen Turks hallooing on their swarms 
of dogs on Christian passengers." 

All this makes anything but a pleasant picture to dwell 
on. Of course it must not be imagined that the reputable 
inhabitants of Rio were concerned in these outrages, nor 
that those who perpetrated them received encouragement 
from the high officials. The Emperor Pedro himself ap- 
pears to have been very well disposed toward these Irish 
on their first arrival. He made a point of attending mass 
in their company, and of kneeling down in their midst. 



332 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

In connection with this a somewhat embarrassing inci- 
dent occurred, which illustrates the utter simplicity and 
credulity of these Irish. By some means or other a re- 
port was circulated among them that if the Emperor per- 
formed this ceremony in their midst three times in 
succession they would be bound to him for unlimited mili- 
tary service for the remainder of their lives. 

Strange as it may appear, this childish rumor received 
full credence, and when the Emperor made his third ap- 
pearance at mass, the chapel was empty of all but the 
officers of the Irish regiment, who had to put the best face 
they could on the matter. 

It was almost certainly ignorance on the Emperor's 
part of what was going on which prevented him from 
intervening in the cause of the Irish. But this treat- 
ment was not to be indefinitely continued with impunity. 
It is surprising enough to find that it was allowed to last 
for six months ; doubtless the only reason lay in the con- 
tinued hope of the Irish in a more equitable state of af- 
fairs. Then all at once the patience of the strangers came 
to an end, and some wild scenes ensued. 

Common cause was made with some German soldiers 
who had suifered a somewhat similar catastrophe to that 
of the Irish. The mutiny now spread rapidly. Two 
hundred of the Irish were now actively involved in this. 
The houses of several Portuguese and Brazilians were 
plundered, and some of the owners only just escaped with 
their lives. 

One of the most hated officers was a major, an Italian 
of the name of Teola, who, it was stated, had originally 
been a waiter in a hotel of the capital, but through the 
influence of a comely wife had obtained a commission in 
the German regiment. Since punishments were fre- 
quently brought about by fining the men, their officers 
had often enough been able to embezzle the greater part 
of their pay ; but none, it appears, had been so active in 
this form of transgression as Teola. 



d-m-'' -'f^:^^^&&>*-'- ,v* 



'4^^i 




LANDING STAGE, RIO DE JANEIRO (eARLY XIX CENTURY) 




PUBLIC GARDENS, RIO DE JANEIRO (1835) 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 333 

When the mutiny broke out, he it was who was the 
first set on by the German soldiers. As he rushed to 
make his escape over the wall of the barracks, he was 
caught and pulled down; he was then stabbed by the 
bayonets of the men and finally crushed to death by large 
stones, thrown on him by the enraged men. Two other 
officers who attempted to take his part, were badly hurt. 

Rio de Janeiro was now thoroughly alarmed. The 
Brazilian troops were ordered under arms, and the min- 
ister of war gave instructions to the commandant, the 
Conde de Rio Pardo, ''to destroy every man: to give no 
quarter, but to exterminate the strangers" — a feat more 
easily ordered than done, now that the blood of the Irish 
was up. In the meanwhile the blacks and the rabble of 
the city were given permission to take up arms and to 
work their will upon the mutineers. That such a meas- 
ure as this should have been put into effect shows the 
depth of the hysterical terror to which the officials had 
been reduced ! 

The mutineers by now had been wrought into a condi- 
tion of complete fury. They sacked entire streets, and 
fired with enthusiasm into the ranks of the blacks and 
the rabble, who were attacking them, and, charging, paid 
off many old scores— while the streets were rapidly filling 
with dead and wounded. By this time, indeed, the mob 
had begun thoroughly to repent of its temerity. Seeing 
that the situation had got beyond them, the Brazilian 
Government applied to the British and French warships 
which lay at anchor in the harbor for landing parties of 
their respective marines, while the Portuguese troops, 
cooperating with these, displayed humanity, and endeav- 
ored, as far as was possible, to reason with the insurgents. 
These latter, in the end, submitted, and on the eve of 
the 12th of June everything was tranquil once again. 

In the meantime the scenes which had occurred in the 
streets had been terrible. The Negroes, mulattos, and a 
heterogeneous rabble had taken advantage of the license 



334 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

to kill granted them by the authorities, quite regardless of 
the nationality and status of their victims. They had 
set upon every stranger they met, and the savagery com- 
mitted was as awful as the death roll itself. 

After these wild occurrences the Irish were released 
from the dungeons and other prisons into which they had 
been thrown to linger neglected, and were sent on various 
ships to their native land, where they had, perforce, to 
endeavor to take up again the broken thread of their 
lives. The unfortunate folk were accused of carrying 
away much plunder; but a search through their boxes 
revealed no evidence whatever of this. As a matter of 
fact, if ever circumstances justified plunder, they were 
surely those in which the Irish found themselves ! Some 
four hundred of the total number remained in Brazil, and, 
living their lives as private citizens, gradually accom- 
modated themselves to their surroundings. 

Two hundred and twenty of these were sent as a colony 
to the province of Bahia, and at Taparoa in the Comarca 
of Ilheos they were said to have become a thriving com- 
munity. All of the four hundred who remained, in fact, 
did well for themselves and for the country of their adop- 
tion, as would undoubtedly have been the case with the 
entire number, had they received the faintest encour- 
agement. 

Here is Mr. Walsh's description of his visit to one of 
those families who had taken up land in the Organ Moun- 
tains : 

* * The way led through the wildest scenery ; and on the 
bank of a river, in the center of a forest, we found these 
colonists. They had built a large and comfortable house 
with a rustic portico, and thatched it very neatly with 
palm branches, whose regular fronds formed a tasty roof, 
the stems and pinnate leaves of which were very elegantly 
disposed in the thatch. On the other side of the river, 
which we crossed by two trees forming a rustic bridge, 
was a large shed for cattle, and other conveniences ; and 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 335 

rising up the hill was an extensive plantation of coffee, 
behind which, descending into a glen, was a rich field of 
Indian corn in high health, with gourds, mandioca, and a 
variety of other produce of Brazilian agriculture. On 
our return the good woman had prepared for us a plenti- 
ful dish of bacon and eggs, with fried cakes of maize; 
and our entertainment concluded with whisky, which our 
host had contrived to distil from his coffee plantation. 
When I contemplated this comfortable house and abun- 
dant farm, rescued from the heart of a Brazilian forest, 
cultivated by persons who in their own country could not 
make out a scanty livelihood in a miserable hovel, I could 
not help feeling the deepest regret, that 2400 who had 
left their homes were not, as they might have been, so 
located." 

Decidedly this is a picture of intelligent peace after 
the storm! 

About this period, as a matter of fact, the treatment of 
even the regular officers in the Brazilian service was not 
always marked by consideration. On one occasion a 
number of foreign officers, among them some British, 
were dismissed from their posts on parade, and they were 
hastened on board a European-bound vessel with such 
precipitation that they were unable to take even an over- 
coat with them! This savors of the kind of treatment 
accorded to unmasked conspirators, but apparently no 
charges of this kind were brought forward. 

That this kind of episode was the result of a petty 
tyranny on the part of the officials seems to be proved 
by the uncompromising manner in which leave was re- 
fused to many of the British officers in the Brazilian 
navy, even when this was asked for reasons of health. 

As a corrective to the depressing picture afforded by 
these unfortunate Irish, the case of Admiral Grenfell 
presents itself. Grenf ell's exact place in South Amer- 
ican history is a little difficult to locate. Beginning his 
career on that continent on the Pacific coast, he assisted 



336 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

in achieving the independence of the Spanish colonies, and 
subsequently shared in the vicissitudes of Brazil both as 
kingdom and empire. 

Admiral Grenfell, this British sailor who made his 
mark in South American history, jumped into his man- 
hood's calling when he was little more than a child! He 
was born in 1800, and at eleven years of age he began his 
career as a midshipman in the service of the Honorable 
East India Company. This service he left — ^when a 
veteran of nineteen ! — to take up a lieutenancy under Lord 
Cochrane in the Chilean navy. 

Here he distinguished himself in the strenuous naval 
combats of the Pacific, and when, the independence of the 
west coast achieved, Lord Cochrane proceeded to the At- 
lantic to assume command of the Brazilian squadron, 
Grenfell accompanied his chief. 

As commander in the Brazilian navy Grenfell per- 
formed notable service in the capture of Para from the 
Portuguese. When the separation of Brazil from Por- 
tugal had become an assured fact, Grenfell remained as 
post-captain with the forces of the southern empire, and 
soon found himself, in command of an 18-gun brig, as 
one of the units opposed to the Buenos Aires naval forces 
commanded by that very gallant Irishman, Admiral 
Brown, whose extraordinary personal force went far to- 
ward counterbalancing the actual inferiority in strength 
of the Argentines. 

In the naval battle off Buenos Aires fought in July, 
1826, in which Admiral Brown's vessel, after the fiercest 
resistance, was driven ashore a complete wreck, a cannon 
ball shattered Grenfell 's right arm, which was subse- 
quently amputated. 

In the operations attending the rebellion of the South- 
ern state of Rio Grande do Sul between the years 1835 
and 1837, Grenfell, now Commodore, distinguished him- 
self not only in the campaign on the lakes and rivers, but 
in his relations with the rebels, the influence that he even- 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 337 

tually acquired over these being one of the chief factors 
in the cessation of a very serious rebellion. 

For these services Grenfell was promoted to the rank 
of rear-admiral, and in 1840, hoisting his flag in the 50- 
gun frigate Constitution, he was placed in command of a 
squadron which — attended by warships respectively of 
Great Britain, the United States, and Portugal — carried 
the Emperor and Empress of Brazil for a tour of their 
southern provinces. In 1846, shortly after this, he sailed 
to England in the Constitution, and there took up the 
duties of consul-general of Brazil in Great Britain. 

In 1851, however, an outbreak of hostilities between 
Brazil and Buenos Aires called Grenfell from his con- 
sular duties to the scene of action in the river Plate, 
where he again hoisted his flag on the Constitution, and 
played a notable part in the war which ended in the down- 
fall of the Argentine dictator Rosas. At the end of the 
war Grenfell, having now attained to the rank of vice- 
admiral, returned to England to resume his appointment 
of consul-general. 

Grenfell 's career is not the only one which goes to 
prove that the Brazilians of that period were fully capable 
of rewarding meritorious service. There is no doubt, 
however, that considerable inconvenience, and occasional 
hardship were frequently caused by the sudden impulses 
of the Emperor, which tended to bring schemes into being 
without sufficient forethought. 

The Emperor Pedro I of Brazil was in many respects 
a most impetuous person. Of what other temperament 
could be one who would walk about his palace at daybreak, 
discharging his shotgun to wake up his family ! When he 
flung himself in medias res it was with the fury of a 
Prussian guardsman charging into a neutral country! 
Here is one of the most striking instances of this. The 
official news of his father's death in Lisbon reached Rio 
on the 25th of April, 1826. This, of course, left the crown 
of Portugal in the hands of Pedro, and he forthwith 



338 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

plunged into as strenuous a week as any king or emperor 
could desire. Within that period he had created new 
peers for a brand-new chamber, had framed a new code 
of laws, and, in fact, had provided Portugal with a new 
constitution ! When he had achieved all this, he abdicated 
in favor of his daughter, Dona Maria, on the 2nd of May. 
So on this occasion at least Portugal might boast of a 
king who had scarcely wasted an hour of his entire reign 
— of six days ! 

There can seldom have been a more complete antithesis 
of the mountain which was in labor and which produced 
a mouse! The exigencies of the political situation had 
caused Sir Charles Stuart, the British ambassador to 
Lisbon, to be in Rio just then and he was on the eve of 
his return to Portugal. His amazement may be imagined 
when Pedro sent for him, and produced a bundle of 
papers, which he begged him to take back with him to 
Lisbon. The package contained the new constitution of 
Portugal, he explained, to which he had devoted the 
greater part of the past week ! 

This feverish feat was all the more remarkable in an 
age that knew nothing of the bustle of the present day. 
When royal mails and messengers lay at the mercy of any 
freak of wind and tide, a delay of some weeks might well 
cause less comment than an unpunctuality of some hours 
in the twentieth century. 

It is said — and there seems no particular reason to 
doubt — that the first news of one of the revolutions in 
Para in the early days of the Brazilian Empire was 
brought to Rio de Janeiro from Para in sixty days by a 
British sailing vessel hy way of England. The reasons 
for this extraordinary occurrence were, in the first place, 
the utter want of land communications ; and in the second, 
the unusual strength of the ocean current running north- 
wards from Bahia, which, further impeded by a spell of 
southerly winds, no vessel could stem. 

The Emperor Pedro I, it may be remarked, had taken 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 339 

some pains to learn the English language, and in his 
younger days he studied this under Father Tilbury, an 
English priest resident in Rio. At a later period he re- 
sumed his acquaintance with the language in less academic 
circumstances. His fount of knowledge then was an Eng- 
lish groom, whose linguistic specialty most unfortunately 
consisted in a liberal stock of expletives and adjectival 
Billingsgate ! 

Thus it would happen that not only the Emperor, but 
the dainty and charming Empress as well, would inter- 
lard their English conversation with the most appalling 
oaths and the most vulgar solecisms under the impression 
that these were mere colloquial amenities! The story 
sounds almost too humorous to be founded on fact, but it 
is given on good authority, and is, I believe, perfectly 
true. But the sensations of such British as listened to 
these strings of unconscious oaths without daring to ex- 
plain their real meaning to these royal victims of a 
groom's tongue must have been curious! 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL, (v) 

The British fleet and Portuguese royalty — The abdication of Pedro I — 
His relations with his subjects — Movements of the diplomatic corps 
— Attitude of the United States minister — Arrival of the royal mes- 
sengers on board H.M.S. Warspite — Description of the occurrences 
by one of the Warspite's oflScers — Conferences with the French admiral 
— Portuguese merchants and officers seek the protection of the Brit- 
ish vessel — The Braganga family arrives on board the Warspite — 
Their reception — Humorous account by a spectator — Impression made 
by one of the Warspite's officers — Conferences with the French admiral 
— Incidents attending the arrival — Pedro's philosophy — How he oc- 
cupied himself with his courtiers — What his trunks revealed — Epi- 
sodes on the deck of the Warspite — Pedro's speech at a lev^e — A 
dramatic interlude — The Emperor exhibits the remnant of his army 
— Account of the abdication by Kidder and Fletcher — The guests of 
the Warspite — Duties of some members of the crew — The royal fam- 
ily is dunned by creditors from the shore — Methods by which Pedro 
comforted his consort — The Emperor attends to business — Some finan- 
cial transactions — Scenes in Rio — Triumphal entry of the Child- 
Emperor Pedro II — Some details of the procession and of the decora- 
tions — Proclamation of an actor — How the Empress learned of what 
was happening on shore — Pedro's remarkable behavior on the War- 
spite — Further dramatic episodes — Uneasiness in Rio — Fatal riot- 
ing — The royal family prepare to sail — Manner in which the Emperor 
parted from the remnant of his army — An imperial packing up — 
Some ludicrous incidents — Complications of etiquette — Transfer of 
the imperial party from the Warspite to a French frigate — Episodes 
of the leave-taking — Departure of the royal family from Brazil. 

WHETHER from mere intuition, or from a 
policy of profound foresight, the British fleet 
seemed to be invariably at hand when any 
question arose of the conveyance of Portuguese or 
Brazilian royalty ! So it happened in 1831 when the 
Emperor Pedro was about to abdicate his throne in favor 
of his infant son and to shake the dust of Brazil from 
his feet, he turned to Mr. Aston, the British charge 

340 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 341 

d'affaires, and, indicating the British fleet at anchor in 
the bay of Rio de Janeiro, exclaimed, **Let us send to 
Admiral Baker for some boats ! ' ' 

This was easier said than done, for a wide breach 
yawned between Pedro and his subjects, and Pedro's few 
adherents that remained at the palace regarded with 
dismay the turmoil in the streets, where the populace had 
taken matters into their own hands. Pedro was now in a 
fever to leave the town which had shown itself so un- 
appreciative of his somewhat mixed virtues. He impa- 
tiently waved aside the suggestion of the British charge 
d'affaires that there was no need for so very hasty a 
departure. At length a young captain of artillery and a 
chamberlain of stronger nerve than the rest came for- 
ward to solve the difficulty, and the message was sent. 

Pedro had his faults, but a lack of personal bravery 
was not among them. On more than one occasion he had 
displayed high physical courage, but now the situation 
seemed to inspire him with a sudden species of panic, 
and scarcely had the messengers left when he ordered 
carriages to be in readiness to convey himself, his family, 
and his suite to the beach. 

In the meantime the ministers of the European powers 
met in a body in order to impress the need for public 
order upon the revolutionists, and to wait upon the Em- 
peror to find out from his own lips if he had really ab- 
dicated. Mr. Brown, the American charge d'affaires, 
held strictly aloof from all interference with the move- 
ment, and his abstention gained him a wide popularity 
among the Brazilians. 

In the circumstances it was but natural that the mon- 
archy of Brazil should have been regarded coldly by the 
United States. Seen through North American spectacles, 
Brazil of that period was a royal weed intruding in a 
garden of republics. The United States minister, in con- 
sequence, was in search of no metaphorical earth with 
which to bank up its loosening roots! 



342 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

After this the scene may be transferred to H.M.S. War- 
spite, on whose trim deck in the middle of the night a gi- 
gantic master-at-arms was holding a lantern to the faces 
of two uniformed Brazilians who had come out from the 
shore in a boat. They delivered a message from Dom 
Pedro, begging that boats might be sent, if possible before 
daylight, for the conveyance of the royal family and the 
remnants of the court from the shore to the Warspite. 
After some unavoidable delay, owing to the fact that 
Admiral Baker was on shore at the time, and that it was 
diplomatically essential to communicate with the French 
flagship which lay at anchor near by, the Warspite awoke 
to action. 

For the remaining events of that notable flitting we 
may rely on the description of one of the War spite's offi- 
cers whose services as interpreter were brought into 
requisition. It will be seen from his account that our 
naval spectator was endowed with some humor as well 
as with a keen gift of observation. It is fortunate for 
posterity that he was present, for his remarks show the 
closest appreciation of the tragedy as well as the lighter 
vein of the situation. He says : 

"The dead silence in which our good ship lay buried 
was now suddenly broken by a shrill call. . . . The Ad- 
miral sent an order to despatch two armed boats and to 
inform the French commander-in-chief of it. The latter 
was also to be asked whether he was going to San Chris- 
tavao himself or how he intended to arrange matters; 
since according to the latest agreement both were to act 
in strict accordance. I was desired to accompany the 
acting lieutenant for the purpose of translating the mes- 
sage and the answer. When we came on board the 
Dryade, a large double banked 60-gun frigate, ... we 
found all the Frenchmen on their legs. Although rather 
early (2 a.m.) they were dressed as for full parade, and 
in high glee. The flattering idea of seeing a new edition 
of their own glorious trois jours published in the New 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 343 

World evidently filled them with the utmost delight. "We 
perceived this plainly enough even in speaking to the 
Contre-Admiral, the Captain Le Tourneur, from whom 
we learned that they were likewise sending two boats now, 
and after that their 'chaloupe montee plusieurs cannon- 
ades' in order to protect the embarkation of their majes- 
ties, if by chance it should be opposed by the mob. 

''When we returned to board the War spite we met our 
Commander-in-Chief, accompanied by the Captain. Both 
repaired to the French flagship, where a nocturnal naval 
and diplomatic cabinet council was held. 

''I now stood leaning on the poop-nettings and listened 
to the violent dashing of oars produced by the four allied 
boats, which were hastily pulling toward the Ilha dos 
Ratos, until they were lost in heaviness and darkness. . . . 

''The imperial palace of Boa Vista or San Christavao 
was lying half an English mile from the beach and four 
miles west of the city. The latter was situated in a 
straight line between it and our ship. It was a round- 
about way by water, and more than seven miles pulling 
with a strong ebb running. 

"The arrival of our expected illustrious refugees was 
long preceded by that of several Portuguese merchants 
and officers, who came to seek an asylum against assassin- 
ation. But the Admiral desired me to explain to them 
that he and the ministers had agreed to remain perfectly 
neutral in any struggle that might ensue between the 
Lusitanian and Brazilian parties, and he requested them 
to leave the ship instantly. They went away amid much 
lamentations and loud requests to Heaven to protect them. 
I became affected by these painful transactions and ad- 
vised the poor fellows to keep themselves quietly in their 
boats at a short distance from us ; assuring them that they 
were secure for the moment lying under the guns of the 
British flagship. ..." 

At daybreak on the 7th of April, when the thunder of 
the morning guns had scarcely died away, four boats were 



344 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

seen pulling toward the fleet from the shore. A rapid 
survey convinced the fleet that this was the actual arrival 
of the royal party, and both the British and French 
admirals prepared to receive their distinguished guests. 
The Royal Marines were turned out and stood on guard, 
while every oflScer stood smart and resplendent. 

The barge which contained the Braganca family now 
came sweeping alongside the Warspite. Everything was 
prepared for their reception. The sailors stood at the 
salute and the marines presented arms. Admiral Baker, 
with respectful cordiality, descended the accommodation 
ladder to assist the Empress out of the boat. At this 
point I must retire in favor of our naval chronicler, who 
has indeed depicted the scene with a humorous frankness 
which no doubt fits it very well, and which, in any case, 
relieves the present writer of all responsibility! Here 
is his account: 

'* Admiral Baker went down the accommodation ladder 
to assist the Empress out of the boat; but Dom Pedro, 
with his usual presence of mind, pulled her back, saying 
in Portuguese : * Recollect my dear, you have no breeches 
on.' He then turned to our captain who was with them 
and called for a chair to have her Majesty hoisted in. 
That officer touched his cocked hat in regretting that such 
an article was not to be had, and assured him that the 
ladder was quite safe. Dom Pedro exclaimed, very an- 
grily, 'Mais elle n'a point de pantalon/ His sister, the 
Marchioness de Louie, now respectfully scolded her ' cher 
frere/ for making a noise about such a bagatelle, and 
swore she had been herself the other day 'sans calecons* 
up and down this very ladder, and never experienced the 
least inconvenience. The Empress, upon this, took the 
Admiral's arm, and ascended it, whilst her careful and 
august husband kept grumbling about the catastrophe." 

It is obvious that Pedro's periodical troublesome lack 
of dignity was at the moment asserting itself somewhat 
strongly. Indeed, it would be absurd to attempt to es- 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 345 

timate his conduct as an emperor by the grotesque scenes 
in which he participated on board the Warspite. The 
finest men have their weakest moments, and this crisis 
in his affairs seems to have caught Pedro in an almost 
clownishly ridiculous and fussy mood. Nevertheless the 
solemnity of the occasion was impressed in various ways. 
The Portuguese national anthem was struck up by the 
bands as the Empress set foot on the Warspite, and the 
sight of the distress of this charming lady moved the en- 
tire ship's company. Indeed, the soft-hearted tars gave 
audible signs of their feelings, and on all sides, from the 
young officers to the hardened quarter-masters, handker- 
chiefs were freely displayed. Scarcely eighteen months 
had gone by since they had seen her, a happy and wel- 
comed bride, entering the harbor she was now so sadly 
leaving. 

Leaning on the arm of the British admiral, her face 
was deadly pale, and she was unable to restrain the 
tears from dropping from her eyes. She passed along 
the front of the Eoyal Marines, her fair hair shining on 
her bowed head, side by side with the silvery locks of the 
Admiral. When she arrived at the door of the cabin 
which had been prepared for her, the French admiral ad- 
vanced to play his part. It had been his British con- 
frere's duty to receive the Empress Amelie at the foot of 
the ladder — it was his to escort her to her cabin. 

As it happened, the French admiral was a very old 
friend of the Empress. He had been aide-de-camp to her 
father during the expedition to Moscow. By a curious 
coincidence this amphibious warrior had actually held her 
in his arms on many occasions when she was a small child. 
The Empress tottered toward him with hands out- 
stretched, and the old sailor was himself somewhat over- 
come at meeting her in such tragic circumstances. Tak- 
ing her hand he shook it heartily, saying, ''Courage, je 
vous en prie. Courage! Resignation!" But for once 
the unfortunate empress's resolution failed her. She 



346 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

burst into sobs, sank down on the sofa, and, hiding her 
fair face in her handkerchief, gave herself up to bitter 
grief. 

The next to board the Warspite was the young Queen 
of Portugal, Dona Maria. She, although less moved than 
the Empress, as was natural to her twelve years, was 
suJBficiently sad of face, and appeared miserable and 
frightened. It was the Emperor himself who supplied the 
other side of the picture. 

He wore a bro\\Ti frock coat, a round hat, and came 
jauntily up the side of the ship, much as though he were 
starting on some chance picnic. He was, indeed, per- 
fectly tranquil but somewhat absentminded, since he had 
much to attend to and was apparently anxious not to lose 
any opportunity of carrying through his final financial 
transactions in the comparatively short time which re- 
mained to him. 

Entering the cabin, he came upon his sorrowing wife. 
He embraced the recumbent form en passant and ejac- 
ulated in somewhat trite consolation, *'Be tranquil, you 
will see your mother again very soon. ' ' But Amelie was 
not to be so lightly comforted. She was grieving less for 
herself than for the child whom she was expecting and 
who was thus to be cut off from the honors of Pedro's 
lost, or rather rejected, empire. 

A study of Pedro, just at this period, reveals how many 
sides to his nature it is possible for a man to possess. 
Although he had shown no little fussiness concerning the 
embarkation of the luggage, he seems to have retained his 
presence of mind in all other respects, notwithstanding 
the fact that a small hostile crowd had assembled in the 
neighborhood of the palace of San Christovao, and had 
burst out into yells and hisses. 

It was the Admiral's barge which had been prepared 
for the reception of the royal party, but at the sight of 
this the Emperor made an unexpected protest. This 
barge had a gun mounted in its bows, and he feared that, 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 347 

should lie depart in this, it might be said that he had fled 
in an armed boat, fearful of the Brazilians. He chose, 
therefore, the second barge, which was without any such 
significant weapon. Thus with an eye to the verdict of 
futurity, Pedro left the shores of his surrendered em- 
pire. 

Royal families, even in adversity, are seldom unen- 
cumbered with adherents, and this the Warspite was now 
destined to find out. Her decks soon became crowded to 
suffocation by members of the suite and other refugees 
of all descriptions, who for some reason or other — in this 
particular case usually an interested one — clung to the 
imperial family. 

Dom Pedro, himself, now became extremely busy after 
his own fashion. He went ceaselessly to and fro, in- 
specting and overhauling his countless chests and boxes. 
He frequently ran up the ladder in order to carry one of 
these boxes with his own royal hands. According once 
again to our naval chronicler, ''He ran to and fro, 
quarreled with the chamberlains, scolded his domestics, 
hailed people alongside, and made a great noise." It is 
sentences such as this that incarnate our royal traveler in 
a joyful ecstasy of fussing. 

The great heaps of baggage, as a matter of fact, told 
their own tale ; they were fitted with new frames fastened 
to the sides, and fresh pieces of wood were attached to 
the bottoms of the leather trunks. Thus was revealed the 
preparation which had doubtless been effected by Pedro 
himself, whose talent as a joiner was considerable. If 
ever there were straws which showed in which direction 
the wind had blown, surely none were more accurately 
represented than by this huge mass of carefully pre- 
pared portmanteaus and trunks ! 

About noon Pedro was awakened from his preoccupa- 
tion concerning his luggage by the sound of guns fired 
from the shore : he ran hurriedly to the side of the vessel. 
The noise created considerable consternation among the 



348 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

fugitive Portuguese. Presently it was discovered that 
these were salutes being fired in honor of little Pedro — 
the little Pedro who had been largely overlooked by his 
father in the course of the past few strenuous hours, and 
who had now been brought from Sao Christovao and 
shown to the people. The inhabitants of Eio had lost 
no time in offering their devotion to the first and only 
white monarch ever born on American soil ! 

Even after this interlude it was some time before Pedro 
found leisure to return to the inspection of his baggage, 
for ambassadors, envoys, ministers, and other officials 
now came off in flocks to the Warspite. Pedro, seeing 
that the ceremony was unavoidable, now prepared him- 
self for a species of levee. He took his stand between 
the two scuttles on the quarter-deck, and here he received 
all those officials who came trooping up from the com- 
panion-ladder. His attitude appears to have been de- 
cidedly casual, for he returned their deep official bows 
merely with a slight nod. The only person whom he 
favored with anything like a profound inclination was 
the papal legate, the Archbishop of Tarsis. 

Presently a formidable circle of diplomats and others 
surrounded the ex-Emperor, and he began to deliver an 
unofficial speech, holding one hand in his breeches pocket, 
and twirling his bushy mustachios with the other. The 
scene must have been curious, for Pedro spoke in jerks 
and casual conversational tones. The following is rep- 
resented to be more or less the actual wording of some 
of his phrases : 

**I expect there will be a revolution in this country 
such as took place in France last year. I have been be- 
trayed for a long while. The Brazilians do not like me : 
they look upon me as a Portuguese. But I have never 
been afraid of them : I went down to the mines. I went 
into the streets the day before yesterday, when they were 
fighting on all sides. What on earth could I do, when 
the people assembled in the Campo de Santa Anna had 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 349 

the impudence to tell me to dismiss my ministers? I 
had n't enough troops to disperse a mob like that. I was 
quite ready to put myself at the head of my guard, but 
— it had left me. ' ' 

Having concluded this portion of his oration, Pedro 
apparently felt himself somewhat at a loss. As a mat- 
ter of fact, he had very little to say and was striving for 
as many words as possible to cover as few facts as pos- 
sible. At this point he was seized with an inspiration. 
His eye had lit upon four soldiers, who were lying in a 
state of torpor, stretched on the deck in the neighbor- 
hood of the mainmast of the Warspite. These he hailed, 
and, seeing that they responded with inadequate alac- 
rity, he ran to them, hauled them with considerable dif- 
ficulty on to their legs, pulled, and straightened them into 
a line, and then seized them by their shoulders and en- 
deavored to give them a martial appearance, which 
seemed quite foreign to their nature. 

The spectators had by this time become somewhat em- 
barrassed, for the scene was, to say the least of it, unex- 
pected. Pedro was determined to see it through to the 
bitter end. He pointed out the four unhappy men with 
a dramatic gesture. The unfortunate beings, as a mat- 
ter of fact, had been left behind at Sao Christavao by 
their comrades, who had not troubled to wake them: 
hence their presence on board. But of this Pedro was 
either ignorant or careless, very probably the former. 

''Yes," continued the Emperor, ''all my troops have 
left me except these brave g argons." He turned to 
the men. "Joao, Antonio, Manoel, Luiz, you indeed, 
have now reason for pride!" Seeing that this left the 
four martial beings comparatively cold, he turned again 
to the spectators and continued: "Here are the re- 
mains of my army. What could I do against the popu- 
lace?" 

The diplomats preserved a discreet silence. It was, 
indeed, not their metier to reply to questions such as 



350 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

these. Pedro, at this tacit acknowledgment of his help- 
lessness, added with much satisfaction, "So I abdicated 
in favor of my son who was born in Brazil, and they 
have this morning proclaimed him emperor. ' ' 

Pedro had finished. With a curt bow he dismissed 
his audience and withdrew to his cabin. 

I give the Emperor's words on the authority of our 
naval chronicler. It is just possible, of course, that his 
sense of humor has urged him to overcolor the picture 
just a little here. It certainly bears little resemblance 
to the vision conjured up by the words of Kidder and 
Fletcher, who say of Pedro at this juncture that "at 
length, like the noble stag of Landseer, singled out by the 
hounds, he stood alone. Deserted, harassed, irritated, 
and fatigued beyond description, with sadness, yet with 
grace, he yielded to the circumstances, and took the 
only measure consistent with his convictions and the 
dignity of his imperial office." 

Messrs. Kidder and Fletcher, of course, had not been 
on board the Warspite. But, if they had, their verdict 
might well have remained unaltered. They might with 
entire justice have attributed these totally unstage-like 
moments to the surprisingly wide sweep of the human 
temperamental pendulum! It seemed that there were 
times when the further Pedro swung himself into the 
heroic, the more rapidly he came tumbling back, head 
over heels, into the ridiculous — and vice versa. 

All this time the ship's carpenters of the Warspite 
had been busy, and tremendous efforts had been made 
to accommodate the crowd of uninvited guests that now 
thronged the vessel. The least concerned of all seemed 
Pedro's daughter, the young Queen of Portugal, who 
very soon after her arrival on board obtained some fish- 
ing lines, and spent a considerable portion of her time 
in angling from the stern-walk of the vessel. But the 
poor girl was evidently tiring of her surroundings, and 
of the incessant bustle which pervaded them. 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 351 

For a really racy description of these circumstances 
I must again refer to the naval chronicler several times 
previously quoted : 

''It would have been confusion worse confounded," 
says that observant person, *4f that smart and true- 
blooded British officer (the Warspite's captain) had not 
kept such excellent order among the multitude of stran- 
gers, which amounted to upwards of one hundred and 
fifty persons of all ranks, ages, and sexes. His own 
cabin consisting of two partitions assumed the char- 
acter of an Eastern harem, filled as it was with Por- 
tuguese, Brazilians, Germans, French and Negro 
females, who were holding the offices of ladies-in- 
waiting, governesses, handmaids, and chambermaids, 
dry and wet nurses or washing women, to all the differ- 
ent majesties, highnesses and excellencies. The oldest 
sergeant of the Royal Marines got promoted to the rank 
of acting 'Kislar Aga' or quasi-okiQi of eunuchs. He 
was ordered to keep a sharp eye upon the door of that 
floating seraglio, where moreover, a vigilant sentry was 
posted, who, with his ramrod, fended off the male part 
of the community. ' ' 

It will be seen from all these circumstances that as a 
handy-man the British sailorman proved himself as ef- 
ficient on this occasion as he has proved on many other 
occasions. 

While all this was occurring on the Warspite, there 
were many citizens ashore who viewed the departure of 
the royal family with concern and even with active dis- 
may. Among these were trades people who had claims 
on some of its members. Dom Pedro and his sister, the 
Marchioness de Louie, are said to have been keenly 
mourned by these interested citizens ! This unfortunate 
lady, indeed, had been living on credit for some time, 
and now shore-boats laden to the gunwale with credit- 
ors and duns floated about the harassed Warspite, and 
clamorous and importunate traders demanded that Dom 



352 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Pedro and his family should concede them their rights 
on the subject while there yet remained time. 

The Empress Amelie herself, notwithstanding her sor- 
row and her condition, was plagued almost to distraction 
by these clamorous creditors. Time after time the un- 
fortunate lady appealed to her husband. But Pedro 
was ever better at collecting money than at disbursing 
it, and now showed himself reluctant in the extreme to 
sign the necessary bills. 

From time to time the Empress's feelings completely 
overcame her, and when pestered more than usual she 
would endeavor to withdraw to her private apartment. 
On such occasions, to do him justice, Pedro's affections 
overcame his financial considerations. He would re- 
strain his afflicted spouse, and, drawing her back, impress 
upon her a hearty kiss before all the spectators, and 
then yield to her desires and satisfy one creditor more. 

On the following day Pedro held a levee of an entirely 
different kind to that previously attended by the politi- 
cians. Once again I quote from the naval authority: 

*'The ex-monarch held a sort of levee in the course of 
the following day, where he received a parcel of money- 
brokers, Jews, slave-dealers and stock-jobbers, who came 
on board to see how the wind was. . . . When he per- 
ceived Mr. Buschental, a German Israelite, among the 
crowd, he exclaimed with much vivacity, 'Oho, Senhor 
Buschental, you are here too ! I assure you if I had not 
been absent in Minas Geraes, you would never have suc- 
ceeded in that job with the copper money of the 
bank.' The Jew did not blush but he looked blue, to the 
great amusement of the bystanders." 

While these curious scenes were occurring on board 
the Warspite, Rio de Janeiro had given itself up to re- 
joicing. *'The King is afloat: God save the King!" 
was the cry of the townspeople, and the streets, festooned 
with coffee branches, were made to glow with colored 
silks, while the balconies were thronged with senoritas 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 353 

in all their finery of brilliant dresses, garlands, fluttering 
fans, and feather flowers. 

The officers of the Warspite whom I have already quot- 
ed had gone ashore with a number of his brother officers 
to see the sights. He witnessed the triumphal entry into 
his capital of the new emperor, Dom Pedro II, the little 
lad of five and a half years of age. At this period it 
seems to have been willed by the gods of the ridiculous 
that no event, however fateful, should occur in the capi- 
tal of Brazil unless it were accompanied by some mar- 
ring touches of unconscious humor. 

The opening group of the procession of the child-em- 
peror was composed of justices of the peace bearing 
green flags in their hands. Alas! many of the worthy 
justices were in acute and unstable trouble with their 
mounts, and when the cavalcade surged uncomfortably 
past, there rose an irrepressible titter from the British 
naval officers, more especially from the midshipmen, who 
recognized with no little malicious glee the livery stable 
steeds from whose tricks their own equilibrium had fre- 
quently suffered. 

As for the poor child, Pedro II himself, what a figure 
was this ! A tiny infant in a huge state coach, dragged 
by four strings of excited mulattoes! He cried, prob- 
ably because weeping was part of the routine of his ten- 
der years, and at the same time waved a white handker- 
chief, doubtless instigated strenuously to this by his 
nurse, who sat opposite him. 

The tender hearted Brazilians, every man and woman 
of their number a child-adorer, were altogether over- 
come by the sight, and even the choir that accompanied 
the procession was by no means immune. Its trium- 
phant chant occasionally died away to an emotional 
quiver. Can one conceive a stranger medley of events, 
when all the while the mob of blacks were thronging the 
Emperor's palace and shouldering their way more or less 
where they would? 



354 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Even the walls were eloquent. According to the same 
writer, on many of these were pasted posters advertising 
a piece to be performed at the imperial theater of Sao 
Pedro de Alcantara that night. This had been written in 
feverish haste for the occasion, and was entitled, **The 
Downfall of the Tyrant." Could London with all its 
''cinemas" produce an instance to beat this for rapidity 
of production ! That an entire drama should be written, 
dramatized, cast, and performed all in the space of twen- 
ty-four hours is surely a breathless triumph — a thun- 
derbolt enterprise! 

Nor was this all. The actor who was cast for the part 
of the tyrant evidently had some well-grounded fears 
concerning the nature of his reception when on the 
boards. Perhaps his confidence in his histrionic powers 
justified his doubts. Perhaps, on the other hand, he 
dreaded lest the mere part in which his lines had been 
cast should bring outrage upon him. At all events he 
had attached to the poster the following advertisement: 

Gentlemen, 

Allow me to call your attention to the circumstances of my 
performing to-night the character of the tyrant. Heaven is my 
witness that there is nothing tyrannical about me ; my heart has 
always beat for liberty, and our glorious Constitution. The atti- 
tudes which I shall be called upon to assume on the stage are in 
direct opposition to my real feelings. The more perfectly I shall 
have the honor of representing the monster to you, the more I 
beg to disclaim any similarity between me and the despot. 
Your most humble servant, 

Jos6 DE Baeros. 

What species of reception Jose de Barros actually met 
with on his appearance in character I have no means of 
knowing. Let us trust for his cautious sake, that it was 
as unenthusiastic as he desired ! 

These scenes appear to have been carefully noted by 
the chronicler from the Warspite. He had been ashore 
and this is what he said on his return : 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 355 

''The Admiral's eye caught me as I came upon the 
quarter-deck. He asked what news I brought from the 
shore. On my relating what I had seen, he took me into 
the cabin, where he introduced me to the Empress, say- 
ing, 'Voila Monsieur X, qui a tout vu!' She nodded 
gracefully, and replied, ^Monsieur, parle-t-il francaisf 
Upon this hint I spake French, and gave her ex-Majesty 
a circumstantial account of the whole turn-out, which she 
frequently interrupted by putting to me various ques- 
tions about the appearance, demeanor, and dress of the 
juvenile emperor and his three elder sisters, the Prin- 
cesses Francisco, Paula, and Januaria. She enquired re- 
specting the attitude and behavior of the new regency, the 
officers, troops, armed people, and spectators. 

' ' I told her that the public had been swimming in tears, 
and the scene proved Hout a fait touchante,' especially 
when the young sovereign was carried out of the chapel 
in the arms of an old chamberlain. I assured her that he 
then looked quite 'comme un ange car esse par des 
demons/ considering that a phalanx of black women 
made a loyal attack on him, in order to kiss the seam of 
his garment, etc. She was evidently much interested 
and moved, and 'gave me for my pains a world of sighs,' 
as Othello would say. My vanity was not a little flat- 
tered by the effect which this extempore speech of mine 
produced on the nerves of the august personage before 
me. I was just going to continue with increased elo- 
quence, when Dom Pedro I, with a boxful of silver spoons 
and forks under his arm, rushed in and briskly asked, 
'What is the matter, what is the matter?' (Que tern, 
que tern?) On my stating that, by order of the Admiral, 
I was relating to her Majesty the events of this day, he 
exclaimed impatiently, 'I know already! I know every- 
thing! J a sei, ja sei tudo!' He then put his precious 
burden on the table and added, turning toward the Em- 
press: 'N'importe, mon chere! prenons garde a nos 
affaires id!' Upon this I bowed to her, and withdrew. 



356 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

very much pleased with Amelia and my own insignificant 
person, but very little with Pedro." 

On the Warspite, many of the events continued to be 
of the comic opera order. When events of state were to 
the fore, Pedro's energy was not found lacking, it must 
be admitted ; but when time lay more idly on his hands, 
he comforted his restless spirit by a ceaseless sequence 
of poses. 

Thus on the first Sunday of his board-ship life, he de- 
sired to see the Royal Marines drilled. This corps was 
accordingly mustered, and was drilled on the quarter 
deck. Dom Pedro together with his family and his suite 
seated themselves on the poop and constituted a most 
appreciative gallery. Dom Pedro, as usual, was inimit- 
able. He had borrowed a telescope, a yard or more in 
length, and with this held to his eye, he was gazing with 
intent rapture at the manoeuvering men. When the per- 
formance was over, he laid down his spy-glass with a 
deep sigh, and said with dramatic emphasis, "A sover- 
eign who has such troops must be happy." 

All this while it must not be thought that the coy ex- 
Emperor was being neglected by the people on shore. It 
is true that very few Brazilians showed themselves on 
the Warspite; but a great number of Portuguese and 
many foreigners came to pay their respects to the royal 
family. The sovereign received the Portuguese with 
effusion. Some he embraced, and on the shoulders of 
others he wept. The bystanders remarked, however, 
that although in some cases these tears might have been 
genuine, in others they were only with difficulty squeezed 
to the surface, and perhaps occasionally did not make 
their appearance at all. 

A little later Dom Pedro 's former field marshal, Count 
Rio Pardo, arrived on board the Warspite, having fled 
from the shore as he had reason to suspect a plot to as- 
sassinate him. Dom Pedro employed the circumstance 
in order to engineer another demonstration. With one 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 357 

arm lie held the General closely embraced ; with the other 
he surrounded the shoulders of his intimate friend and 
valet-de-chamhre, Carlota. Thus supported he stood be- 
tween them absolutely motionless and silent for more 
than ten minutes! During all this while his large dark 
eyes were alternately fastened on the deck at his feet 
and on the sky above. 

He was now beginning to take no little interest in the 
affairs of the Warspite, and he soon became so accus- 
tomed to his surroundings that his restless spirit could 
no longer keep itself tranquil. Thus one night at eleven 
o'clock he hastened all round the ship and blew all the 
sentries' lights out! He explained the reason for this 
when he returned, happy in the consciousness of duty 
done, to the quarter-deck. This procedure, he said, was 
necessary on a man-of-war where such large quantities 
of gunpowder were stored! 

What was one to do with a guest such as this 1 Surely 
never was a being who indulged in such a pure debauch 
of good intentions gone astray! Doubtless some of the 
officers of the Warspite after a few experiences of the 
kind began to sympathize somewhat with the restlessness 
of the inhabitants of Eio de Janeiro. 

The capital, as a matter of fact, instead of being tran- 
quillized, was suffering from another panic of alarm. It 
was rumored ashore that Dom Pedro had already re- 
pented of his abdication. Groups of citizens gathered 
again in consternation in the famous Campo de Santa 
Anna, or, as it was now termed, Campo da Honra. From 
there the reported tidings spread like wildfire. The ex- 
Emperor was determined to come into his own again! 
He proposed to land at the head of the entire marine 
force of the British and French squadrons ! 

The crowd heard with growing anger that the Portu- 
guese inhabitants of Eio had banded together to assist 
their monarch! The result was a more serious bout of 
rioting than before, and a number of the unfortunate 



358 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Portuguese were murdered on the night following this 
wild statement. However baseless were these rumors, 
it was becoming evident that their bare existence was 
causing much mischief, and both the British and French 
admirals now came to the conclusion that the sooner Dom 
Pedro left Brazil the better it would be for that country 
and for himself. 

After much talking over arrangements with the august 
emigrant, it was finally decided that he and his royal wife 
should sail for Europe in the British frigate Volage, and 
that the young Queen of Portugal, Dona Maria, and her 
aunt, the Marchioness of Louie, should depart in the 
French frigate La Seine on the Wednesday following. 
No sooner was this resolution arrived at than the Ad- 
miral saw to it that it was posted up in the public build- 
ings of the capital, and notified in the leading news- 
papers. The effect of this measure was to pour oil on 
the troubled human waters. The shedding of blood 
ceased forthwith, and tranquillity and peace returned at 
length to Rio de Janeiro. 

Seeing that his many tasks were very nearly at an end, 
the ex-Emperor turned to a matter which lay near to his 
hand. This was the disposal of the four men whom he 
had introduced to the ministers and officials as his army ! 
He appears to have been unwilling to carry the quartette 
with him to Europe. Nothing remained then but to pen- 
sion off these apparently devoted and loyal beings — 
since with a certain lack of consideration they had con- 
tinued to remain on board the Warspite. Pedro handed 
them their pensions in a lump sum which amounted to 
the equivalent of seven shillings and sixpence apiece! 
He then sent them ashore to enjoy this somewhat modest 
reward of a faithfulness — which in itself was more 
moderate than he had known ! 

Pedro had written his farewell letters: he was now 
occupied in packing up his goods for transshipment from 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 359 

the Warspite to the Volage, which was being held in readi- 
ness for Ms reception. So here we have Pedro once 
again breaking into another outburst of his unconscious 
clowning. He would bustle into his cabin and would re- 
appear laden with all kinds of ornaments and domestic 
implements. Everything which he seemed specially to 
cherish, and this included a considerable proportion of 
his total possessions, he insisted on carrying down to the 
boats himself. One can imagine the faces of the officers 
and the crew, and the hardly concealed grins of the latter 
as his burdened Majesty passed fussily through their 
midst. 

Occasionally when Dom Pedro had unearthed some ob- 
ject which he considered of special interest he would in a 
good-natured but quite ludicrous fashion exhibit it to the 
officers on the quarter-deck, and thus make a halt in his 
journeying. One of these treasures was a cumbrous 
clock which he insisted on winding up and causing to 
strike for the edification of the officers of the Warspite, 
who no doubt endeavored to show a^ much delight and 
interest as was possible under the circumstances. After 
which, having exclaimed that it was a dear keepsake 
from his blessed grandmamma, the Queen of Spain, Pe- 
dro hastened down the gangway with his clock and re- 
turned in search of further objects for removal. 

The British and French diplomatic corps now came 
off from the shore and arrived on board the Warspite 
in order to be present at the departure of the Queen of 
Portugal, whom the French admiral Grivel was going to 
escort to his frigate the Seine for conveyance to Europe. 
This, it is said, was the ship which carried Charles X the 
previous year to England. Moreover, by a very curious 
coincidence there were anchored together in the harbor 
at this time the British frigate Undaunted which took 
Napoleon Bonaparte to the Island of Elba, and the 
French brig Inconstant in which he escaped from, his 



360 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

captivity at that place. There were, indeed, as the mate 
of the signals on board the War spite observed ''plenty 
of royal mails and imperial coaches" in the harbor. 

The abdication of Dom Pedro had caused some diffi- 
culties in the matter of etiquette. One of these was con- 
cerned with the ethics of the salute. Thus, although 
young Queen Dona Maria of Portugal was entitled to 
her full number of guns, her father could no longer lay 
claim to any considerable expenditure of powder. It is 
possible that Pedro's own hand may be traced behind the 
note which the principal lady-in-waiting of Dona Maria 
had written on the morning of the day of departure to 
Admiral Grivel: 

M. Admiral, 

Her Majesty the Queen of Portugal desires me to ask you to 
be good enough to abstain from giving her the honors due to her 
station when she leaves the ship to embark on the Seine. Her 
Majesty does not wish to receive such demonstrations in the pres- 
ence of her father who can no longer be given them, and she asks 
you to communicate her feelings on the subject to Admiral Baker. 

I take this opportunity to express my esteem. . , . 

Eleonore de Camara. 

In reply to this the gallant French admiral expressed 
his admiration for her Majesty's delicate sentiments and 
filial piety, and assured her of his obedience to her com- 
mands in this matter. As fate would have it, he had no 
option but to break his word within a very short time. 
"When the moment of the departure of the young Queen 
Dona Maria de Gloria arrived, the officers of the Warspite 
seem to have done their best to mark the occasion with as 
much polite pomp and ceremony as possible. The ship 'a 
band played the special hymn of Dona Maria de Gloria, 
as the admiral conducted that young monarch to his 
French comrade's boat, which was waiting at the foot of 
the gangway. From the mainmast of the Warspite flew 
the standard of Portugal, and alas! just as the royal 
child of twelve stepped into the small craft there thun- 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 361 

dered out the first of the guns of the royal salute. This, 
of course, was in direct contravention to the desire ex- 
pressed, and the mistake was put down to the absent- 
minded enthusiasm of the gunner, although this latter 
swore roundly that his original orders had never been 
countermanded. 

The most embarrassing feature of the situation was 
that, while the Warspite was banging and blazing away 
her salute, the French frigate had of necessity to remain 
silent, and apparently cold and unmoved. The gallant 
French admiral was flabbergasted. Only one thing re- 
mained for him to do. Instead of pulling direct for the 
Seine he ordered his men to row his barge to the frigate 
Driade. Here he shouted hurried instructions, and as a 
consequence this vessel, too, began to bellow forth her 
homage, and thus, having by two wrongs righted the mat- 
ter, the Admiral continued to escort the young Queen to 
the Seine. 

The ceremonies of the day were not yet over on board 
the Warspite. The Queen of Portugal having departed, 
it was now the turn of Dom Pedro and his wife to say 
farewell. The entire ship's company appears to have 
been on the qui vive when the youthful Empress made 
her appearance on deck, and admiration and homage 
glowed in the eyes of officers and men. 

Indeed, this beautiful great lady maintained a justly 
deserved popularity to the last. She apparently had but 
to be natural in order to charm. She advanced to where 
the Admiral stood waiting, shook hands with him cor- 
dially, and gave him her plain and sincere thanks for the 
hospitality extended to her and for the various atten- 
tions she had received. She then took his arm, bowed to 
the Guard of the Royal Marines, and made a graceful 
courtesy toward the crowd of officers. She then drew 
out a white handkerchief and waved it kindly toward the 
wildly enthusiastic groups of middies. Thus, having 
pleased all hearts, she passed to the side under the escort 



362 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

of the Admiral, and rapidly descended the accommodation 
ladder. 

A moment or two later Dom Pedro emerged from his 
cabin, and on this occasion he showed himself in perhaps 
the most unfortunate of his moods. His chief commer- 
cial agent, a Polish Jew, had come on board some time 
previously, and had been awaiting his Majesty's ap- 
pearance with an eager and anxious countenance. There 
were last messages to be given, final instructions to be 
taken, and doubtless a good deal to be managed to the 
profit of Pedro, and incidentally to his own. 

Catching sight of his agent, Pedro halted abruptly on 
his way to the accommodation ladder and soon the two, 
forgetful of all else, were deep in matters of slaves, 
goods, and landed property which Pedro had no choice 
but to leave behind. That his agent was a trusty speci- 
men of his kind was evidenced by the fact that he pro- 
duced some leather bags filled with gold dust. These 
Pedro grasped while a smile broadened on his counten- 
ance as he came out with his favorite proverb : '^ Amicus 
certus in re incerta cernitur." The two remained for 
over twenty minutes while the officers were grouped in 
ceremonial attire, the men were standing at attention, 
and the Empress was waiting in the boat at the foot of 
the ladder! 

The situation, of course, could not be allowed to endure 
forever. The Captain of the Warspite, doubtless under 
instructions from the Admiral, approached Dom Pedro, 
and reported officially that the Queen was in the boat 
waiting. But Pedro did not mean to have the profitable 
and interesting interview terminated in so abrupt a fash- 
ion as this. He seized hold of the Polish Jew and walked 
off arm in arm with him. **Well then," said Pedro, 
''come along with me on board the frigate!" 

In order to give the full effect of this final scene I must 
again quote the words of the invaluable naval chronicler 
of the Warspite. 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 363 

"The last words which that legitimate Champion of 
the Constitutional Rights of Man — that Imperial Tom 
Paine of the age — was heard to utter in the gangway 
with emphasis were, ' To sell my slaves ! — so very cheap — 
The paper money exceedingly low ! — eleven pence in cop- 
per — ' Credite posteri! While the staunch boatswain 
was piping him over the side, I turned towards the numer- 
ous naval spectators in order to observe the expressions 
of their countenances. Most of them laughed: some 
looked tired, and others quite disgusted. . . . 

' * The ship 's company of the War spite were rather dis- 
appointed not to receive from Dom Pedro the slightest 
remuneration for all the uncommon heavy boat's duty, 
and the troublesome hoisting in and out of the immense 
luggage. But our excellent Commander-in-Chief, with 
his usual quickness and sound judgment, anticipated 
their feelings : he allowed them some extra grog, and an 
hour's longer light, fiddling and dancing on that eventful 
evening. ' ' 

This was the last that Eio de Janeiro saw of its one- 
time emperor ; for the final exit was achieved in the early 
hours of the following morning in silence and darkness. 
Then, towed by a great number of boats supplied by the 
various men-of-war, the Seine and the Volage crept over 
the still waters toward the narrow mouth of the inlet, 
passed under the giant guardian peaks of the Sugar Loaf 
and so out into the open street of the Atlantic Ocean on 
their way to Europe. 

So far as the inhabitants of Eio de Janeiro were con- 
cerned, on one evening these two ships had been ; on the 
next morning they were not ! A simple and not inappro- 
priate epitaph on the power and reign of Pedro himself 
in these flowery regions ! 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE BKITISH IN BRAZIL (vi) 

Expiration of the original commercial treaty between Great Britain and 
Brazil — Scenes at the custom-house — Anglo-Brazilian Trade — The 
slave-trade in Brazil — Comparative welfare of the Negroes — The con- 
ditions of their existence — Slave-dealers — Revolting circumstances of 
their occupation — Result of an attempted restricting in the human 
commerce — Some gipsy specialities — A glut of human flesh — General 
Miller's visit to a slave ship — His indignation aroused — His visits 
to the slave-markets — Walsh's remarks on the Brazilian slave — 
Some astonishing revelations — ^A revolting circumstance at Tijuca 
— ^Visit of two Quakers to Rio — Their interview with Negroes — 
Embarrassing incident at the Rio exchange — Opinions in the British 
press — The first railway journey in Brazil — Extract of the proceed- 
ings from the Journal do Commercio — Description of the train and 
of the trip — The Sugarloaf Mountain at Rio — Some climbing feats 
— British hotels in the Brazilian capital — Boarding houses — "'Jolly 
Heath" — A notable character — His retreat. 

THE original commercial treaty between Great 
Britain and Brazil expired in November, 1844, 
giving way to a new condition of affairs, which 
was naturally of less marked benefit to Great Britain 
than the old, seeing that this latter came into being sim- 
ultaneously with the somewhat experimental separate ex- 
istence of Brazil. 

It was naturally to the interest of the British merchants 
to get their goods through the custom-house while the old 
and peculiarly favorable rates of duty were still in force, 
and as the last day of the old regime was more nearly ap- 
proached, the more strenuous and wonderful grew the 
feats of the Eio custom-house. Certain it is that as the 
hour itself drew near, the smiles of the pleasant custom 
officials broadened, and the boxes, bales, and barrels shot 
clean through the official building with a rapidity only 

364 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 365 

equaled by the body of a small boy propelling himself on 
a frozen slide ! It is unnecessary, I suppose, to explain 
that the interests of the custom officials had been made 
identical with those of the British merchants — a type of 
cosmopolitan achievement which is performed all over 
the world. But in this instance the gigantic scale of the 
procedure was for years afterwards the theme of many 
awe-inspiring anecdotes. The affair may be regarded 
with calmness, as leaving no particular slur in any special 
direction. Every-day morality seems to be no more con- 
cerned with a custom-house building than it is with a 
horse-dealer's stable! 

The expiration of this treaty, however, did not result 
in the diminution of the Anglo-Brazilian trade. On the 
contrary, the establishment of steamer communication 
between the two countries less than a decade later gave a 
remarkable impetus to commerce. 

In 1853 it is recorded that there was an average annual 
amount of £13,600,000, of British capital engaged in Bra- 
zil. This was made up of credit for British goods in 
Brazil which just then averaged £7,000,000, for the twelve 
months; a national debt to England of £6,000,000, and 
bonds amounting to £600,000 of the internal debt held by 
Englishmen. 

It was just about this period that the British began to 
take up with increasing earnestness the question of the 
slave trade in Brazil. Far be it from the author to at- 
tempt the faintest excuse for so inhuman a traffic: at the 
same time it must be said in justice to the Brazilians that 
its conditions here were milder than is generally imag- 
ined. 

British visitors to Brazil, lay and clerical, civil and 
military, provide a nearly unanimous testimony to the 
comparative welfare of the Negro slaves in Brazil, Now 
and then we are shown revolting pictures of the slave- 
markets, and in the same way we occasionally meet with 
terrible instances of individual cruelty. But these latter 



366 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

were undoubtedly rare, and those concerned in such out- 
rages were of the type that is given to ornament the 
police-court dock in countries and times where men have 
the right to protect their own skins. 

Speaking generally, it is abundantly clear that the 
average African slave obtained the full benefit of the 
Brazilian's natural benevolence. For it is a fact that 
though his friends may accuse him of a want of energy, 
not even his enemies can charge the Brazilian with a lack 
of easy kindliness. In Brazil, as in the Southern States 
of North America, slave-owning was taken as a matter 
of course. How could it have been otherwise in a society 
which had never known what it was not to possess these 
human conveniences? "I sometimes," says an English 
eye-witness of the period, "saw groups of well-dressed 
females here, shopping for slaves, exactly as I have seen 
English ladies amusing themselves at our bazars." 

Nevertheless, in Brazil the African sang, danced, and 
his body swelled in size and stoutness to enormous pro- 
portions such as could never have been attained by those 
oppressed by an unhappy or brooding mind. 

This benevolent attitude applied, of course, to the or- 
dinary slave-owning population of Brazil — the merchant, 
tradesman, official, and landowner. It did not hold good 
in those whose livelihood depended directly on the traffic 
in the bodies of the Africans. Here, indeed, was the 
seamiest side of the slave trade. It is likely enough that, 
if the bulk of the slave-owning population could have wit- 
nessed its more nauseating details slavery would not have 
continued for so long as it did. Certainly those who per- 
sisted in the traffic at first hand in the enlightened eight- 
eenth century must have had dispositions of the kind 
such as the hyena and the carrion crow would have fought 
together to claim. 

As frequently happens, some honest steps taken to re- 
strict the slave-trade had precisely the opposite effect. 
Thus, when in 1826 a limit of three years was put on the 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 367 

permission given to Brazilian subjects to carry slaves in 
ships, the importation of Africans increased so rapidly 
that for a period three times as many slaves as usnal 
were introduced into Brazil. Walsh has some interest- 
ing remarks on this point : 

''When a cargo of slaves arrives, it is generally pur- 
chased by people who are called Ciganos, or gipsies, and 
who nearly resemble all the individuals of the race which 
I have seen in different parts of the world. ' ' 

This is instructive when one considers the great num- 
bers of Portuguese gipsies, more especially in the prov- 
ince of Alemtejo, whose instincts cause them to devote 
themselves to horse-dealing ! 

''There is now, however," says Walsh again, "such a 
glut of human flesh in the markets of Eio, that it has be- 
come an unprofitable drug. Ten years ' credit is allowed 
to the purchaser ; and you will not be displeased to hear, 
that many speculators have been ruined by their unholy 
importations. ' ' 

General Miller, when stopping at Rio de Janeiro on his 
way home to England from Peru, had an experience on 
a slave ship which undoubtedly impressed him for the 
remainder of his life. He was breakfasting on board a 
Brazilian frigate with the Commander, a Captain Shep- 
pard, when he observed a slaver, of 320 tons, which had 
come into the port a few hours before. Obtaining the 
loan of one of the frigate's boats, he boarded the slave 
ship, and the Captain, mistaking him for a Brazilian offi- 
cial, received him courteously enough in the first instance, 
and showed him over the ship. But when Miller, ap- 
palled by the sights he witnessed, and driven from below 
by the incredibly nauseous odor of the hold, found his 
breath, he gave full vent to his warm and righteous in- 
dignation. 

When the slave captain recovered from his astonish- 
ment he, in turn, abused the British for their meddling 
habits, upon which Miller, with unabated warmth, heaped 



368 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

another volley of unwelcome truths upon the wretches 
head, and departed in disgust from the tainted atmos- 
phere of the slaver. 

He subsequently visited the slave markets of Eio, 
where he upheld his humane views with the same deter- 
mination and boldness. The slave dealers banded them- 
selves together to yell at him, but their resentment did 
not exceed this wordy pitch, and thus left the intruder 
unconcerned. 

During his short stay in Rio there was probably no man 
in the town who could rival Miller's unpopularity in the 
slave quarters — but it was a species of unpopularity in 
which that fine soldier thoroughly rejoiced. 

Some of Walsh's remarks concerning the Brazilian 
slaves are so interesting that I must quote them in full : 

' ' The circumstance that particularly struck me in Bra- 
zil was the interminable period to which the offspring of 
a slave is doomed to bondage, from generation to genera- 
tion. It is a taint in the blood, which no length of time, 
no change of relationship, no alteration of color, can ob- 
literate. Hence it is that you see people of all hues in a 
state of bondage, from jet black to pure white. On the 
ecclesiastical estates, every precaution is taken to pre- 
serve the original color ; and when, from an intermixture 
of white blood, the complexion of the children is becom- 
ing too light, they endeavor to restore its darkness, by 
obliging the fair slaves to intermarry with those who 
are blacker than themselves; the good fathers being 
alarmed at the prospect of keeping, in a state of slavery, 
human faces as fair as their own. 

'*I one day stopped, with a friend, at the house of a 
man on the road to Tijuca, to obtain some refreshment. 
In the garden, at the back of his venda, we saw some 
young Negroes playing about, and among the rest a very 
pretty white boy. He had a soft fair face, light curling 
hair, blue eyes, and a skin as light as that of a European. 
Attracted by the very engaging little fellow, I caressed 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 369 

him, and inquired of the man of the house, if he was his 
son. He said not ; but that he was the son of an English- 
man, and his slave, and he mentioned the name of his 
father. Shocked and incredulous, I denied the possibility 
of his father's knowing that the child was in bondage; 
but I was then informed that the father not only knew 
it in this instance, but that, in other cases, he is known to 
sell his own white child along with its mother. ' ' 

This inexpressibly revolting circumstance of the trade 
does not seem to have continued beyond the first half of 
the nineteenth century. Long before it was finally abol- 
ished, considerable alleviations had entered into the con- 
ditions. 

In 1852 two earnest Quakers, John Candler and Will- 
iam Burgess, traveled to Brazil in order to assist in the 
anti-slave trade campaign, and, incidentally, to present 
the Emperor with an address on this subject. It appears 
that the costume of the Society of Friends, in which they 
invariably appeared, caused a certain sensation in Eio de 
Janeiro, but it was frequently enough the turn of the 
worthy Quakers to be surprised. 

They were, for instance, considerably taken aback when 
they were waited on by a deputation of Benin Negroes, 
who had purchased their freedom, and had already paid 
a considerable sum for their passage back to West Africa. 
They had no favor to ask. All they desired was to put 
a plain business question: they were anxious to know if 
the West African coast were now reasonably free from 
slave ships. The amazement of the Quakers was great 
when they learned that a number of these men's com- 
panions had already proceeded safely back to their own 
country. 

The human units of no free nation, I suppose, can ex- 
pect to be consistent or homogeneous in their views on 
politics and people. This was proved toward the end of 
1853 in a rather embarrassing fashion, on the occasion 
when the Brazifians were doing honor to a black sailor 



370 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

who had heroically distinguished himself in saving the 
lives of passengers of a wrecked vessel of the Brazilian 
Steam Packet Company. He was taken to the Commer- 
cial Exchange of Rio de Janeiro, and there the proceed- 
ings were brought to a lamentable close, for the director 
for the month, who happened to be an Englishman, re- 
sented the entrance of a black, and caused him to be 
ejected without ceremony. 

This occurrence, at a time when Great Britain with 
genuine and disinterested fervor was explaining that the 
black was really and trnly a man and a brother and that 
the traffic in slaves should cease, was the cause of con- 
siderable consternation. Several indignant letters ap- 
peared on the subject in the English press, containing 
such sentiments as these: 

' ' This arbitrary proceeding has called forth articles in 
the public papers, and it is provoking that one of us who 
pretend to so much philanthropy for the race should have 
shown so much prejudice against the color. This heroic 
fellow, with whom the Emperor of the Brazils expressed 
himself proud to shake hands, was driven from the ex- 
change because he was an African ! And by an English- 
man ! ' ' 

Whatever may be said for and against the action on 
moral and material grounds, it must be generally agreed 
that it was completely lacking in tact ! 

We have now arrived at that fateful period which her- 
alded the modern industrial era. 

The first official railway journey accomplished in Bra- 
zil took place on the 5th September, 1853. It was made 
on part of the line which was being built to connect the 
capital with the summer-residential, mountain city of 
Petropolis. Among the party to make the venture were 
the British and Austrian ministers, and Mr. William 
Hadfield, who translates as follows some extracts of the 
proceedings from the Journal do Commercio. After a 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 371 

description of the passage of the bay and of the landing 
on the opposite shore, the correspondent continues : 

*'A few paces distant we saw a single graceful-looking 
locomotive, with a certificate of the year of its birth, and 
the name of its worthy papa engraved on the central 
wheels. The letters, in yellow metal, were as follows: 
'William Fairbairn & Son, 1853, Manchester.' The 
proper carriage was not yet attached; they substituted 
for it a rough wagon, used for the conveyance of materi- 
als, and without further delay we squatted ourselves at 
the bottom of this impromptu vehicle. Suddenly a pro- 
longed and roaring shriek, a whistle with the force of 
fifty sopranos, screamed through the air, deafening the 
hearers, and causing us to raise our hands to our ears. 
It was the signal for departure ; the warning- to those 
who might be on the line to guard against a mortal blow ; 
an announcement made by a tube attached to the locomo- 
tive itself. Swifter than an arrow, then the flight of a 
swallow, the locomotive threaded the rails, swung about, 
ran, flew, devoured space, and, passing through fields, 
barren wastes, and affrighted animals, it stopped at last 
breathless, at the point where the road does not yet afford 
a safe passage. The space traversed was a mile and 
three quarters, and the time, occupied in the transit four 
minutes. It is just that we should here record the names 
of Messrs. Trever and Bragg; the first, for having had 
the boldness to undertake the enterprise; the other, for 
executing with zeal and skill the respective works. ' ' 

Had these worthy folk been able to get a glimpse of the 
cars that now soar giddily through the upper air on their 
steel ropes to the summit of the Sugarloaf Mountain 
above Eio Harbor, their astonishment would have been 
considerably increased ! 

This famous Sugarloaf Mountain which pricks upwards 
like a threatening canine tooth to guard the entrance to 
Rio Harbor is already hung about with a certain amount 



372 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

of climbing legend. There are some who say that its 
steep rock sides were first climbed by a British midship- 
man. This bold spirit is supposed to have left on its 
summit a Union Jack, to the dismay of the town author- 
ities, who could induce no one else to scale the smooth 
peak in order to remove the patronizing bunting ! 

The United States and Austria, I believe, each make a 
similar claim for their respective midshipmen. But I 
feel strongly inclined to back the British pretensions. 
How could any one who makes the faintest appeal to logic 
and mathematics do otherwise? Let us admit — for the 
sake of this argument only! — that the British midship- 
man is possessed of only just the same amount of initi- 
ative as those of any other nation! This concession 
would equalize the chances of all three in the matter of 
the likelihood of the accomplishment of the feat. But 
then, considering the great superiority in numbers which 
the British warships of those days enjoyed over any oth- 
ers visiting Rio Harbor, the weight of probability in fa- 
vor of the British, immediately becomes overwhelming, 
and our case is won! Can you conceive a simpler and 
more convincing method ? 

The records of some of the later ascents are less nebu- 
lous. It is certain, for instance, that on the fourth of 
July, 1851, a very cosmopolitan party made the perilous 
ascent. This consisted of an American dentist — stirred 
by the date, and also, perhaps, by the tooth-like shape of 
the spur, his wife; a French hair-dresser and his wife; 
and a young Scotswoman, They celebrated their advent 
on the summit by a bonfire and by a flight of rockets, con- 
siderably to the astonishment of the people of Rio far be- 
low. The illumination was justified, for the peril of the 
climb is undoubted. 

By the middle of the nineteenth century British hotels 
had become something of an institution in Rio de Janeiro. 
Johnson's Hotel on the Caminho Novo is said to have 
been the most comfortable. The chief rival of this was 







-:^iX'^i.:'i,:-f,\. ■•-! 



^ >*f ; *^^ • 



THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL 373 

the Hotel dos Estrangeiros, an establishment conducted 
on French lines. 

Several English boarding houses had been in existence 
at this time for a considerable period, and one of the most 
notable of these, situated at Constantia, was kept by a 
Mr. Heath, the son of a Kentish farmer. Heath himself 
was a sufficiently remarkable character, who spent an 
unbroken half century or so in Brazil without apparently 
suffering at all in health. How little his natural abun- 
dance of spirits were affected by the atmosphere of the 
sub-tropics may be gathered from the name of ** Jolly 
Heath" by which he was known wherever English was 
spoken in Central and Southern Brazil. 

When Jolly Heath gave up his boarding house he re- 
tired to a delightful sylvan resort near Theresopolis. 
There he grew all species of European and tropical flow- 
ers; shot jaguar, tapir, and the other species of local 
game; entertained, doctored, and cared for British and 
Brazilians alike, and enjoyed a celebrity that was as well 
earned as it was wide ! Messrs. Kidder, Fletcher, Hinch- 
liff, and other writers of the period, all have a hearty 
word of praise for Jolly Heath. 



CHAPTER XX 

THE BRITISH IN THE SOUTH AMERICAN INTERNAL WARS 

Position of the foreigner in South America — Situation of some who had 
fought in the War of Independence — The Chilean navy and the At- 
lantic — ^Admiral Brown assists in the formation of the Buenos Aires 
navy — Heterogeneous recruits for the fleet — The period of Rosas — 
Reputation of the Dictator — ^Murder of the Kidd family — ^Action by 
the British minister — The autocrat's humorous side — Circumstances 
of the blockade of Montevideo — The Anglo-French blockade of Buenos 
Aires — Curious strategical situation — Brown's naval action with 
Garibaldi — A theory concerning the latter's choice of red uniform 
shirts — Futility of the blockade of Buenos Aires — The Anglo-French 
expedition up the Parana — The engagement at Obligado — Objects 
achieved by the venture — Engagement at San Lorenzo — Strategy of 
the British — Some episodes of the blockade of Buenos Aires — Cock- 
ney Sam in Montevideo — Gallantry of a humble adventurer — Meth- 
ods by which he supported his men — Abandonment of the blockade of 
Buenos Aires — Rosas proceeds to his retirement in Southampton — A 
queer naval battle between the fleets of Buenos Aires and Entre Rios 
— How a victory was arranged beforehand — Composition of the river 
fleets — British among the heterogeneous elements of the crews — 
Hinchliffe's unexpected meeting with Urquiza's soldiers — Formidable 
warriors — Experiences of the British in Paraguay — Gaspar Rodriguez 
de Francia — Experiences of Messrs. J. P. and W. P. Robertson under 
this autocrat's rule — A passing description of the siege of Mon- 
tevideo by the British Life in Paraguay — Francia's character, pur- 
suits, and deeds — Robertson's final interview with Francia — Suggested 
mission — Francisco Solano Lopez — Some unfulfilled expectations — 
Madame Eloisa Lynch — Lopez plunges his nation into war — Merciless 
treatment of his soldiers — Sufferings of the British — The "Uruguay- 
ana" torture — End of the war — Situation of foreigners in South 
American revolutions — Unexpected question by a British minister — 
Experiences of an English clergyman in 1868 — An episode in which 
the late Admiral Hart Dyke was concerned — ^An adventurous boat 
expedition. 

IT is a widely understood axiom in the Latin con- 
tinent that the foreigner who has taken up his 
residence in South America should refrain from in- 
terference with the politics of the land which shelters 

374 



BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 375 

him. No more reasonable precept than this was ever 
laid down, and it is one which need not confine itself to 
the affairs of South America. To bring the matter home 
to ourselves, we should surely feel inclined to regard' 
with merely lukewarm charity foreigners who, having 
made an uninvited sojourn in our midst, concerned 
themselves in an endeavor to alter our laws and regula- 
tions to a pattern more nearly approaching that to which 
they themselves had been accustomed ! 

During the first half of the nineteenth century, how- 
ever, this attitude of aloofness was not always easy to 
maintain on the part of the resident foreigner. This 
applies especially, of course, to those who, having taken 
service with the patriot forces in the War of Independ- 
ence, remained in the continent after the battle with the 
Spaniard had given way to the period of internal unrest 
which followed. It is true that the number of these was, 
comparatively speaking, not large, but among them were 
several sufficiently remarkable personalities. The ma- 
jority of these had originally been concerned with the 
wars on the Pacific coast. 

The naval situation of Chile after its fleet had freed 
the Pacific from the Spaniards, was rather peculiar. 
For some time it seemed to act as a reservoir of men 
and ships for the Atlantic States. The Pacific war at an ^ 

end, Chile had freed Cochrane, Grenfell, and many others 
for the service of Brazil, and, at a later period, when 
Brazil and Buenos Aires were at loggerheads, Chile sold 
a number of her then unwanted vessels to the Buenos 
Aires Government. In order to take charge of these, 
Admiral Brown traveled over the Andes to the Pacific, 
and brought the vessels back by way of Cape Horn. 
After this he set himself to strengthen the sea power of 
Argentina, or rather of the State of Buenos Aires; for 
Argentina as a concrete republic had not yet come into 
full being. Before that desirable condition was attained, 
the young nation had to undergo a lengthy and remorse- 



376 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

less schooling at the hands of General Rosas, its famous 
dictator. 

The composition of the personnel of Brown's navy was 
heterogeneous. The most experienced members of his 
crews were, of course, the cosmopolitan groups of seamen 
who, finding themselves at a temporary loose-end in 
Buenos Aires, hastened to enlist under the blue and 
white flag. Indeed, the appeal of Admiral Brown's per- 
sonality and of the assured adventurous career went far 
beyond the ranks of professional sailors. An astonish- 
ing number of British residents, who had established 
themselves as shopkeepers, moved by a wave of enthusi- 
asm, made fast the shutters behind the iron bars of their 
shops, sallied down the narrow streets of Buenos Aires, 
and set out in small boats on the yellow waters of the 
river Plate to join Brown's flotilla at anchor in the 
roads. 

Even the pastures yielded their toll to the young Ar- 
gentine navy. It happened that just at that period a 
Mr. Barber Beaumont had caused a number of settlers 
to be sent out from England. On realizing the situation 
in the Rio de la Plata a number of these dropped the 
handle of the plow before they had well had time to grasp 
it, and went on board Brown's ships to handle ropes and 
cannon instead. 

These events have brought us down to the period of 
Rosas, the Argentine dictator already referred to, whom 
Brown served with a loyalty that was praiseworthy 
enough, since, as a sailor, it was not his business to con- 
cern himself with the rights and wrongs of politics. 

It is probable enough that much has been heaped upon 
Rosas for which he was not responsible. Considering 
the sheer autocracy of his rule, and the amount of crime 
which occurred in it, this was almost inevitable. The 
notorious Mazorquero club — an association which in- 
dulged freely in murder — was supposed to work at his 
instigation. However that may have been, British vie- 



BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 377 

tims were not numerous ; but one or two terrible tragedies 
occurred, nevertheless, to tbese. 

The murder of every one of the nine members of a 
respected Scottish family of the name of Kidd, who 
owned an estancia in the neighborhood of Buenos Aires, 
was regarded with practical certainty as the work of the 
Masorqueros — an instance of *'frightfulness" designed, 
as it was alleged, to strike terror into the resident for- 
eigner, and thus to prevent inconvenient diplomatic 
claims. However that may have been, the British min- 
ister, Sir W. Gr. Ousely, immediately issued a proclama- 
tion offering ten thousand dollars as a reward for the 
discovery of the murderers. He then took this to Rosas, 
asking the Dictator to append his signature to it. 
Whether Rosas were actually implicated or not in this 
policy, will, of course, never be known, but in any case the 
request was one which he could not refuse ! 

But, if this particular official scored off Rosas, another 
British minister — ^whether Ousely 's predecessor or suc- 
cessor, I am not certain — ^was less fortunate. In the 
course of a friendly argument, the autocrat turned to him 
with a laugh : 

'^Senor Ministro," he exclaimed, ''within a day or two 
you will be doing menial work within my house ! Would 
you care to wager that you will not ? ' ' 

The minister accepted a bet with alacrity. A day or 
two later he entered one of the patios of the Palermo 
palace, and found Rosas' charming daughter. Dona 
Manuelita, hard at work pounding maize, and bedewing 
the yellow mass with tears of chagrin. Her father had 
cruelly forced her to the task, she explained; would not 
the Senor Ministro assist? The minister, scandalized, 
rushed forward to take the pestle from her. A few sec- 
onds later he was pounding vigorously, an apron already 
cunningly hung about his body. Simultaneously the en- 
try of Rosas and one or two friends, laughing consum- 
edly, explained to the diplomat that he had lost his bet! 



378 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

This incident is familiar throughout Argentina. It dem- 
onstrates a sense of humor in Rosas which tempts one to 
give him the benefit of the doubt in many of the vaguer 
charges against him. 

It was in the service of Rosas that Admiral Brown in 
1843 blockaded the pleasant Uruguayan capital, Mon- 
tevideo. It was undoubtedly only the arrival of the in- 
tervening British and French squadrons which saved the 
town. These forced the Buenos Aires squadron to with- 
draw, and Admiral Purvis, the British commander, de- 
tained Brown and his officers for a time as prisoners of 
war. 

The main objects of the Anglo-French naval expedition 
which blockaded Buenos Aires in 1845 were two: the 
opening up of the river system which Rosas had closed 
to Paraguay and the northern province of Corrientes, 
and the relief of Montevideo. This latter port had long 
been threatened by Rosas, and, as we have seen, was ac- 
tually being blockaded by Admiral Brown's Buenos Aires 
squadron, when the arrival of the Anglo-French fleet 
forced that tough old sailor to relax his grip. 

In the meantime a few companies of British infantry 
had been landed in Montevideo, but the absence of any 
important land forces prevented the allies from interfer- 
ing with Rosas' troops that were investing the Uruguayan 
capital from the interior. Thus at the same time that 
the allied fleet was blockading Buenos Aires by sea, the 
troops of the latter town were besieging Montevideo by 
land! 

A little later Admiral Brown was brought face to face 
with Garibaldi, who had taken service in the cause op- 
posed to Buenos Aires. Garibaldi, with a couple of im- 
promptu war vessels, had succeeded in running the gaunt- 
let of Brown's squadron further up the river. Then en- 
sued a long stern chase up the river'Parana, the vessels of 
both sides sailing and warping vigorously up the rapid 
stream. But Garibaldi had penetrated as high up the 



BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 379 

yellow flood as the province of Corrientes, where the 
banks were already assuming their subtropical aspects, 
before Brown came up with him. A fight ensued in 
which both sides might with some reason have claimed the 
advantage. For although Brown drove the hostile 
vessels ashore and riddled them with shot, Garibaldi, be- 
fore he abandoned them, succeeded in landing their car- 
goes of arms, which had been one of the principal objects 
of his expedition. This, by the way, was Brown's last 
naval action. He retired shortly afterwards to Barracas, 
a suburb of Buenos Aires, where he ended his days in a 
respected peace. 

There is one rather interesting circumstance concern- 
ing Garibaldi, to which I have referred casually in an- 
other book. Being unacquainted with the minor details 
of his Italian campaign, I do not know if any explanation 
is given of the origin of the famous red shirts worn by his 
volunteers. But, if none has been forthcoming, it would 
seem probable enough that Garibaldi obtained the idea 
of this uniform from the red-ponchoed warriors of the 
river Plate with whom he had previously been brought 
into contact. 

After this Italian excursion we may return to the 
mouth of the Eio de la Plata, where lay the British and 
French fleets. After a time the allied ministers pleni- 
potentiary and the naval commanders began to be ob- 
sessed with a grave suspicion that, so far as any serious 
consequence to the inhabitants was concerned, the block- 
ade of Buenos Aires from the sea resembled the punish- 
ment of shutting up a child in a richly- stored larder ! All 
that it effected was to hem in a land already possessed of 
a superabundance of all that it required for its existence. 

An up-river expedition was determined on. Her 
majesty's ships Gorgon, Fulton, and Firebrand set out 
on this venture, accompanied by a large number of mer- 
chant vessels laden with goods for Corrientes and Para- 
guay. Several French war vessels operated in conjunc- 



380 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

tion with the British, and helped to convoy the important 
mercantile fleet. 

The first engagement of importance occurred at Obli- 
gado, a narrow point in the river Parana at which power- 
ful shore batteries had been placed, and where vessels, 
fastened together by a powerful chain, had been sunk 
in the stream. So warm was the engagement here that a 
British and a French vessel each received over a hundred 
shots in their hulls. But for the gallantry of Captain 
Hope, of the Firebrand, who, dashing forward with a 
boat's crew, succeeded under a terrific fire in destroying 
the chain and thus opening a passage, the losses to the 
fleet must have been serious. After this, however, the 
action was soon concluded, although the British casualties 
had become sufficiently numerous before the batteries 
were silenced. 

After this the squadron proceeded up the stream, and 
the merchant vessels disposed of practically all their 
produce at Corrientes, scarcely any being left over for 
the Paraguayans still farther up the river! 

Having achieved its object so far as clearing the river 
was concerned, the force returned downstream. But in 
the meantime Eosas had prepared another warm corner 
for the expedition at San Lorenzo, where some batteries 
had been mounted in a commanding position. Again the 
resourcefulness of the fleet, which was now accompanied 
by H.M.S. Alecto, saved the situation. A rocket brigade 
was secretly landed on an island opposite the position, 
and just as the fleet and convoy, numbering together 
over a hundred vessels, were about to pass the spot, the 
rockets played on the battery in so startling and unex- 
pected fashion that the vessels were enabled to run the 
gauntlet comparatively unscathed. 

After this the blockade of Buenos Aires continued in a 
somewhat stagnant manner. Major operations of any 
kind were conspicuous by their absence. Smuggling, 
however, was rendered easy by the great areas of shallow 



BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 381 

waters over which small craft, knowing that the block- 
ading vessels could not follow them, sailed with im- 
punity. 

It was only such irregular forces as these, whether by 
land or sea, that had an opportunity of showing their dar- 
ing. The same may be said of the investment of Mon- 
tevideo, which was proceeding simultaneously. One of 
the most notable figures in this respect on the Monte- 
videan side was an Englishman known as Cockney Sam. 
How Sam came to find himself in Montevideo does not 
seem to be related. In London he had been a coal heaver, 
an occupation which in itself would scarcely seem to 
possess any particular driving power toward the warmer 
shores of the Rio de la Plata. However, there he was at 
the time when the Allied fleets were lying in the river, 
established as a lighterman and as a dealer in bones. 

In his own humble fashion Cockney Sam, who was a 
well-spoken and civil-mannered fellow, appears to have 
been a very popular character in Montevideo. So that, 
when the martial spirit of the period spurred him away 
from his mercantile bones in quest of wilder and less 
dry adventures, he had no difficulty in obtaining a follow- 
ing. 

Then in a wild daylight charge or a stealthy night at- 
tack he would sally out to where Rosas' troops kept 
watch about the outskirts of Montevideo. There were 
times when very few of Cockney Sam's devoted band 
would return alive from one of these charges of theirs. 
Then Cockney Sam would busy himself about the streets 
of Montevideo, recruiting men and money for his next 
expedition, with a ridiculously mild and ingratiating 
smile. In fact, it is said that he was as punctiliously 
grateful for any subscription toward his fighting force, 
as he had been in his commercial days for an order for 
bones! Considering the utterly reckless daring with 
which he led his band, it is not a little remarkable that 
Cockney Sam should have survived the war, as he did. 



382 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

All this time it was becoming increasingly evident to 
the blockading forces that the amount of inconvenience 
which Rosas was suffering from the blockade was imper- 
ceptible. A renewed attempt to make terms with the 
Dictator met with failure — as, indeed, it could scarcely 
fail to do when the only weapon the allies could employ 
was a threat to continue this very blockade ! This threat 
having been treated with a not unnatural scorn, the allies 
took the only step which was left to them. They raised 
the blockade ! The fleets sailed away, and the river Plate 
was once again left to its own devices. 

Some five years later, however, it was the lot of H.M.S. 
Locust to shelter Rosas — then fleeing from the victorious 
armies of a country which his iron rule could no longer 
keep in chains — and eventually to bear him to Southamp- 
ton, in the neighborhood of which, much respected — re- 
tired despots seem to differ curiously little from any 
other folk! — he passed the remainder of his days. So 
curious a working of fate could have been foreseen by 
none when the blockading British fleet lay off Buenos 
Aires ! 

Even after the fall of Rosas, however, differences be- 
tween the river Plate provinces led to further naval ac- 
tions in the great river. It was now the turn of Urquiza, 
the rival of the fallen Rosas, to blockade Buenos Aires 
with the forces of Entre Rios. In the course of this a 
naval engagement was fought which was principally re- 
markable on account of its humorous side. 

Some vessels of Urquiza 's fleet, commanded by an 
Admiral Coe, when off the low island of Martin Garcia, 
fell in with a Buenos Aires squadron, the most important 
vessel of which was an eighteen-gun brig commanded by 
an Englishman of the name of Turner. The action that 
followed had something in common with the less reputa- 
ble race-meetings: its result had been arranged before- 
hand. 

Coe blazed away some round shot at Turner's brig, con- 



BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 383 

cerning which Turner did not experience sufficient curi- 
osity even to go up on deck. It was now the brig's turn 
to fire. Simultaneously with the first hangings of the 
shots the guns reared up and turned turtle! The rope 
lashings had been saturated with sulphuric acid ! After 
this — since it was clearly impossible to defend a brig 
whose guns littered the deck like autumn leaves — the 
battle was over. 

The brig, together with a three-masted schooner and 
a steamer, hastened to strike the colors that had been 
sold, while three small schooners which had remained 
loyal, made off in dismay toward Buenos Aires. 

At this period the river fleets of neither Buenos Aires 
nor M^ontevideo presented an imposing spectacle. The 
most important vessels of which they were composed 
were merely small passenger steamers fitted with such 
guns as were available. Urquiza's ships, moreover, were 
manned principally by his scarlet ponchoed soldiers, fa- 
mous as cavalrymen, but totally out of their element on 
the deck of a steamer ! Probably the only really appro- 
priate asset of this fleet of Urquiza's was the chief engi- 
neer, who even here did not fail to be a Scotsman ! 

The Buenos Aires squadron, on the other hand, con- 
tained a number of British. Mr. T. W. Hinchliff, who, 
when descending the Parana in H.M.S. Ardent, had an 
opportunity of inspecting the two squadrons as they lay 
at a more or less permanent anchorage within a league 
of each other, remarked this on the visit of a boat from 
the Buenos Aires flagship. *'We were rather struck," 
he says, ''with the smart appearance of two or three of 
the crew, who looked very like Englishmen, and the sus- 
picion was soon confirmed. The officer gave them the 
word in Spanish, and one of them at once remarked to 
the man next to him, 'Shove off. Bill. All right!' No 
doubt they had been victims to some of the Buenos Aires 
crimps, who liked nothing better than inducing English 
and American seamen to run from their ships." 



384 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Having gone so far with Hinchliff we may accompany 
him a little farther, to a spot near Santa Fe, in fact, by 
an old ruined fort, where he unexpectedly fell in with 
some of Urquiza's soldiers. It must be explained that a 
surprise attack to which many of their number had fallen 
victims on the previous night was chiefly responsible for 
their demeanor. Says Hinchliif : 

' ' We had hoped to explore this curious old edifice, but 
on coming up to it we were surprised to find a consider- 
able number of soldiers hanging about in the much- 
dreaded red ponchos of Urquiza. Some of them were 
lying at full length on the ground, some were smoking 
paper cigars under a species of veranda, and others were 
lounging sulkily with their backs against the wall, star- 
ing at us silently. The Santafecinos are considered the 
finest of the natives, and certainly these were the most 
formidable-looking men I have ever seen, with the excep- 
tion, perhaps, of the Life Guards. Many of them must 
have been several inches over six feet, and there was an 
appearance of dangerous ferocity about them which was 
anything but pleasant. I saw that our Italian friend, 
who knew the country well, was not only surprised but 
greatly alarmed at finding himself in such company about 
a mile from the town: he whispered hurriedly that we 
must pass without taking notice of them, and turn as 
soon as we could. We passed many fierce faces, but no 
one said a word to us. . . . " 

It was in the hermit-kingdom of Paraguay that many 
sufficiently terrible experiences were undergone by the 
British who, having once penetrated into the inland re- 
public, found themselves entirely deprived of the op- 
portunity of receiving assistance from the outside world. 

This condition of affairs was introduced in 1816 by 
Paraguay's first autocrat, Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia. 
To live in Paraguay under the rule of Francia was to 
know all the sensations of an unbroken sojourn above a 
powder mine! The terrible uncertainty in which even 



BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 385 

foreigners were kept is testified to by Messrs. J. P. and 
W. P. Roberston, as well as by others. 

Mr. J. P. Robertson was one of those who in 1806 
followed in the wake of the first British expedition to the 
river Plate. On the arrival of his vessel at the mouth 
of the river the voyagers were met by the somber tid- 
ings of the capitulation of the British garrison of Buenos 
Aires. They were, however, enabled to watch the siege 
of Montevideo, the scene of which he thus describes: 

"Brigs of war were running close under the walls, and 
bombarding the citadel from the sea; the guns were 
leveled with deadly aim at the part of the fortification 
selected for the breach ; and the mortar was discharging, 
in fatal curve, the destructive bomb. Thousands of spec- 
tators from the ships were tracing, in breathless anxiety, 
the impression made by every shell upon the town, and 
every ball upon the breach. The frequent sorties made 
by the Spanish troops, and repulses invariably sustained 
by them, gave an animating, but nervous interest to the 
scene. ' ' 

Roberston witnessed the capture of Montevideo, and 
remained in South America, until the final fiasco of the 
expedition forced him to depart with the rest. After a 
few months spent at home the desire to see more of South 
America overcame him, and, setting sail again for the 
Rio de la Plata, he managed to make his way into Para- 
guay just as Francia was preparing to take upon him- 
self autocratic power. 

Thus Robertson, who was shortly afterwards joined 
by his brother, witnessed the first founding of the despotic 
rule in Paraguay, the frontiers of which it soon became 
impossible to cross without a license from the Supremo, 
by which title Francia became known. No Paraguayan 
ever wittingly crossed Francia 's will: merely to dis- 
please him in all unconsciousness meant imprisonment 
or banishment into the distant forests at the best, torture 
and death at the worst. 



386 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Two or three deeds and characteristics of Francia will 
show the medley of traits of which this extraordinary 
man's character was made up. He kidnapped the French 
naturalist Bonpland from across the border in Argentina 
with no more compunction than he would have plucked 
a stray plant out of his own garden; he decreed that 
every one of his subjects, however poor, should wear a 
hat — even if it were only a brim — in order that he should 
be able to salute his ruler with proper reverence ; he was 
ascetic to the point of austerity in his tastes; and he 
was much addicted to the study of astronomy, algebra, 
and natural science ! When engrossed in these pursuits 
and in that of literature, he at one period gave orders 
that any one who approached inconveniently near to his 
window should be shot. 

It was not astonishing that a certain ingenuousness 
should have characterized Francia. Almost the whole of 
the despot's life was spent in a remote country that his 
own laws ended by rendering completely secluded. 

Thus when Robertson, who had the autocrat's permis- 
sion to that end, was about to depart for England, he 
was summoned to Francia 's presence. Behind the dic- 
tator were stationed four grenadiers laden with samples 
of tobacco, cigars, spirits, sugar, and other Paraguayan 
produce. These, explained Francia, Robertson was to 
bear to the British House of Commons, and, having ex- 
hibited them, he was to announce that Francia was ready 
to enter into a commercial alliance with England. The 
mission itself was essentially practical; but the method 
suggested for its completion was not without its uncon- 
scious humor! 

But the arch-tyranny of Paraguay did not attain to 
its zenith until, Francia and his immediate successor 
Carlos Antonio Lopez having died, Francisco Solano 
Lopez came to what was virtually the throne of Para- 
guay. The sheer despotism which was latent in Fran- 
cisco Solano Lopez did not make itself apparent until 



BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 387 

after he had attained to the dictatorship of the inland 
state. 

In 1861 Hinchliff, referring to the death of Carlos An- 
tonio Lopez, wrote: **His son General Lopez began to 
reign in his stead; and it is supposed that the interests 
of Englishmen will be favored by the circumstance that 
the honors of the presidential throne are shared by an 
amicably disposed English woman. ' ' 

Lopez had spent some time in England, where he had 
made a favorable impression, and the hopes expressed by 
Hinchliff were very generally shared. But they were 
realized neither in himself nor in Madame Eloi'sa Lynch, 
the handsome Parisian-Irishwoman who shared his throne 
in a somewhat irregular fashion. 

The latter, it is true, appears to have been directly re- 
sponsible for none of the atrocities committed by Lopez ; 
but she does not seem to have moved a finger to prevent 
one of these outrages. It is true that Lopez, when thwart- 
ed, revealed the instincts of a beast of prey ; nevertheless, 
adventuress though she was, Madame Lynch retained her 
influence over the tyrant to the end, and there is no doubt 
that she might frequently have interposed her merciful 
offices without the faintest danger to her own interests, 
such as they were. 

When Lopez flung his brave and devoted army against 
the combined forces of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, 
he had embarked both himself and the nation in a suicidal 
plunge. As one of the results of this, the standard he 
set for his men was above the limits of human possibility. 
Officers who had given way when only a tenth of their 
men remained in action were executed, and their wives 
were tortured to death. Men who were overheard to 
cast a single doubt upon a complete victory all along 
the line were shot out of hand as for a heinous crime. 
There were Paraguayans captured by the Brazilians, who 
might well enough have accepted the excuse of having 
done with the inhuman hardships of the war. Instead of 



388 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

this they made their escape, and with the warmest loy- 
alty rejoined their ragged and worn comrades. As sole 
reward they were led out before a firing party, and fell 
as an example to the rest ! Lopez did not approve of his 
men being taken prisoners. 

Unfortunately for themselves, there were a certain 
number of British in Paraguay when the war broke out. 
The majority of these were mechanics and engineers, and 
the experiences of nearly all of them were of the most 
terrible description. Confined in noisome dungeons 
haunted by reptiles and rats, driven from time to time 
in a starving condition from one place to another — this 
constituted only a part of what they were obliged to suf- 
fer. A special torture, known as the * * Uruguayana " had 
been invented by one of Lopez's most favored creatures, 
and more than one of the British captives has related his 
experiences when suffering under this. The victim's 
limbs were firmly lashed together with hide ; he was then 
placed in a sitting position, and a number of muskets 
at the back of his neck were made fast with thongs, the 
effect of this being to bend the sufferer's body into an un- 
natural and agonizing curve. 

In the end when, the Paraguayan army having been re- 
duced to little more than a half -naked collection of old 
men and boys, the war came to an end. Such Englishmen 
as survived owed their escape rather to Lopez's death 
than to any care that he had taken for their preservation. 
Indeed, to serve Lopez was as fatal as the traditional din- 
ner with Borgia ! His short, but very red, rule provides 
one of the grimmest chapters in South American history. 

Fortunately for foreigners these dark days in Para- 
guay are not typical of the history of the southern con- 
tinent in general. The policy of the South Americans 
in almost all the numerous revolutions which have oc- 
curred from time to time in the past has been to refrain 
from molesting the persons of resident foreigners. In 
the instances where one of these has suffered it will al- 



BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 389 

most certainly be found that the foreigner has interested 
himself in the affairs of one or the other of the belligerent 
parties. 

But this applies only to life and limb. The circum- 
stances affecting property have by no means been the 
same, least of all in stock-raising countries when armies 
of men, short of horses and hungry for beef, have been 
on the march. On such occasions the amount of live- 
stock commandeered would depend largely on the tact 
and popularity of the breeder. 

These proceedings, although annoying enough, were 
seldom of serious consequence, and were generally taken 
in fairly good part. Indeed, in an era of political storm 
the estanciero was inclined to lump this risk in with that 
of locusts, drought, flood, and other visitations of the 
kind which it is necessary to endure with philosophy. So 
the shrewd ones made so signal a virtue of necessity that 
on more than one occasion their livestock was returned 
to them a hundredfold — in the shape of a concession or 
some similar privilege ! 

Diplomatic representations were seldom of much avail, 
and appeals to this effect were frequently resented by the 
ministers, resident or plenipotentiary, of the aggrieved 
persons' country — diplomats who complained that it was 
beneath their dignity to assist in the chase after lost cat- 
tle! Perhaps this explains the answer which a British 
estanciero in Uruguay received from his minister in the 
early 1860 's, on his explaining the fact that he had just 
suffered the loss of sixteen commandeered carriage 
horses, the claim for which he desired should be placed 
officially before the Uruguayan Grovernment. The elderly 
representative of Great Britain eyed the estanciero for a 
time in surprise, whether real or feigned. 

"Why, Mr. ," he asked at length, "what on earth 

can you require sixteen carriage horses for ? ' ' 

And there the matter remained. 

An English clergyman who landed in Montevideo in 



390 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AJVIERICA 

1868 certainly obtained a glimpse of the traditional spe- 
cies of South American revolution. Here is his expe- 
rience as related by himself: 

"Noticing from the house where I lived, several per- 
sons peeping round the corner of the street, I went out 
to see what was the matter. The balls were coming up 
this street from the soldiers who were advancing; and 
just then a gentleman on the opposite side of the street, 
was shot through the thigh, and taken into a house. A 
peon crossing the street at this spot was shot dead, picked 
up, placed on a shutter, and carried away. On this I 
thought it prudent to retire into the house." 

And at this period, to add to the political tragedy, a 
terrible epidemic of cholera was sweeping away the in- 
habitants of Montevideo by the thousand! 

It is this sort of incident that many people in Europe 
have accepted as being all in the normal South American 
day's work! 

This chapter may be concluded by an episode which, 
having received it from the late Admiral Hart-Dyke's 
own lips, I have already narrated in *'The Eomance of 
the River Plate." Nevertheless, the incident falls so 
completely within the scope of this book that it cannot 
well remain absent from these pages. 

The admiral — then a junior officer — ^was stationed in 
a British warship off Buenos Aires during one of the 
revolutionary outbursts at a period long before the pres- 
ent era of prosperity and peace. The Argentine fleet was 
likewise at anchor off the capital. As it happened, the 
naval force of the republic was opposed to the land pow- 
ers which were in possession of Buenos Aires. Owing to 
this, the Argentine admiral suffered no little anxiety on 
account of his wife and two daughters, who were cut off 
from him in the city. This he confided to the officers of 
the British warship, with whom he appears to have been 
on friendly terms. Hart-Dyke volunteered to bring the 
ladies off from the shore, and set himself to prepare a 



BRITISH IN SOUTH AMERICAN WARS 391 

somewhat daring plan. In fact the episode, modestly 
and simply as it was told, savors strongly of the genuine 
romance of the British sailor, and suggests Henty at his 
best. 

Behold, just before the fall of night, Hart-Dyke setting 
out for the shore in command of his boat's crew, two mid- 
shipmen's uniforms tucked comfortably away in the 
stern ! On this point my memory does not serve me well ; 
but it appears that the Argentine admiral was less anx- 
ious concerning his wife than his daughters. It is likely 
enough that the elder lady was very well able to look 
after herself. In any case she would have found it diffi- 
cult to disguise herself as a midshipman. Hence the 
provision of two uniforms only. 

The boat reached the mole in the ordinary course of 
events, and a short time afterwards the young naval offi- 
cer found himself at the Argentine admiral's house. His 
advent caused no little flutter, as may be imagined ; but 
the admiral's wife appears to have been a lady of re- 
source, who lent herself readily to the plot. So, after an 
interval, we see Hart-Dyke sailing along the street, ac- 
companied by two very smooth-cheeked midshipmen. 

It was dark now, and the illumination in the thorough- 
fares sufficiently scanty. All went well for a while, and 
the trio, without exciting suspicion, passed by the side 
of the low square houses with the lamps shining from their 
patios on their way to the mole. At the foot of the steps 
waited the boat with its British crew ; it was merely neces- 
sary to descend and to enter it. But there's many a slip 
— and in this case the slip was no metaphorical one. As 
ill fortune would have it, the steps were greasy. One of 
the admiral's daughters lost her foothold, and bumped 
down on the unsympathetic stone. She did what nine 
women out of ten would have done under the circum- 
stances : she emitted a treble scream. 

The sound electrified the officials and the loafers on the 
pier. Amid the hubbub arose urgent commands to halt. 



392 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

This was the very last thing that the trio desired. The 
genuine officer bundled his two spurious juniors into the 
boat ; the sailors bent lustily to their oars, and the small 
craft shot out into the night amid a wild fusillade from 
the mole. Fortunately no one was hit, although the boat 
itself was struck, and an oar or two splintered. 

But the adventures of the night were not yet at an end. 
In order to distinguish friends from foes it had been ar- 
ranged that, as the party neared the Argentine admiral's 
ship, a flare should be burned in the boat. In the cir- 
cumstances which had intervened, such a proceeding 
would have revealed the fugitives' whereabouts to those 
on shore who were still blazing away into the darkness. 
So the boat approached the Argentine vessel unan- 
nounced by its flare. The sentries were on the alert, and 
welcomed the suspicious craft with a volley almost as fu- 
rious as had been those from the shore. But the shouted 
warning proved effective, and in the end the party stood 
in safety on the deck of the Argentine warship. Here 
they were received with profound thankfulness by the 
admiral, whose feelings may be imagined when he discov- 
ered that it was upon his own daughters that his men 
had fired! 



PAET IV 
SCIENTIFIC AND LITERAEY OBSERVERS 



CHAPTER XXI 

SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Tropical forests — Life and torments in the South American jungle — Two 
sides of the picture — Qualities essential to the naturalist — Charles 
Waterton — Some salient characteristics — Waterton's home life — His 
eccentricities and pursuits on his own estate — Waterton in the 
Guiana forest — Raleigh's description of that country — Stoicism ex- 
hibited by Waterton — Unenterprising vampire bats — Some instances 
of the naturalist's enthusiasm — ^Adventures with giant snakes — How 
he rode an alligator — ^His own account of the encounter — Methods by 
which he fought fever — Waterton's death — 'Charles Darwin — The voy- 
age of the Beagle — Scope of Darwin's travels in South America — His 
experiences in the south of the continent — ^Some notable fossil dis- 
coveries — Intercourse with the Fuegians — ^Narrow escape of a mis- 
sionary — Darwin on the Pacific coast — The country dealt with by 
Bates and Wallace — ^Mystery of the Amazon Valley — Henry Bates as 
a naturalist — His work 'and enthusiasm — ^Tale of a gigantic spider — 
Imaginary perils and real dangers — The noises of a tropical forest — 
The menace of nature and its creatures — Various diseases, including 
yellow fever, imdermine Bates's health — His departure from South 
America — Regrets on sailing — Expression of his subsequent views — 
A. R. Wallace — His experiences on the Amazon — Incidents during the 
canoe voyages — Perils of the streams — ^Difficulties with Indian 
crews — Insect plagues — Encounter with a jaguar — Ultimate triumph 
of the climate — ^Wallace's homeward voyage — Loss of the vessel by 
fiire — Destruction of the naturalist's collections — Richard Spruce — 
Adventures of a keen botanist — His early career — ^An adventure at 
Para — His experiences during an attack of fever — Murderous Indians 
— An uncomfortable British assistant — Encounter with a condor — 
Botanical excursions in Venezuela, the Orinoco basin, and the Ecua- 
dorean Andes — Long-lived Englishmen — Other naturalists. 

THERE is something umisiially seductive in the 
mental pictnrings of a tropical forest. That 
these tremendous hotbeds of vegetation possess 
an extraordinary charm of their own is undeniable. Nev- 
ertheless their greatest glamour probably haunts those 
who have never trodden them. 

395 



396 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

No doubt there are many who picture the tropical for- 
ests much as the hothouses at Kew Gardens, with the 
glass walls abolished and the interior continued indefi- 
nitely ! In some respects they might not be far wrong — 
provided that in their mind they raised the roof indefi- 
nitely, increased the size of most of the growths a dozen 
fold, and flung one and all close into each other's leafy 
arms, thus making a most gigantic tangle, the lianas 
winding themselves everywhere in clinging confusion. 

But there are many objects which the stay-at-home 
dreamer — probably lounging in placid and secure ease 
on a wholesome and shaven lawn — would have to add to 
this. There are the hidden pitfalls of the ground ; there 
are the leaf -concealed stumps and branches which wound 
and bruise the shins and ankles, and there are the great 
thorns which lie in wait to tear the flesh remorselessly. 

This is not all. By no means ! There are many worse 
things. There is the poisonous snake which lurks in the 
undergrowth; there are the great and little ants on the 
boughs which resent the approach of an unconscious hu- 
man hand by a bite as painful as living fire; there are 
innumerable flies whose vicious little fangs draw blood. 

After all this it may seem an unnecessary piling up of 
horrors to add to the list the droning song of the intol- 
erably active swarms of mosquitos, the burrowing atten- 
tions of the unpleasant '' jigger," which loves to lay its 
eggs in the flesh under the human toe-nail, and — the most 
fateful curse of all — the malaria; the beri-beri, black- 
water, and yellow fevers, whose dreadful shadows sit 
brooding all the time over the jungle. 

But it is impossible to pass any of these by. For they 
— all the foregoing, and many more — are there, as large 
as life and as grim as death, in the tropical forests of 
South America. They constitute the netherworld of the 
jungle; they show the reverse of that picture which is 
made up of quaint monkeys, brilliant birds, wonderfully 
gorgeous butterflies, luminous insects that glow at night 



SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 397 

like lighthouses at sea, and blossoms of a size and shape 
that have to be seen to be believed in by the average per- 
son brought up in northern Europe. 

It is only the possessor of rather a special tempera- 
ment who can take up with success the calling of a natur- 
alist in a tropical country. There are certain qualities 
essential to the life, and he who does not possess them 
might as well dig his grave as soon as he enters the forest 
and so save himself further trouble ; because he will want 
it soon enough. 

Without a doubt the first of these qualities is enthusi- 
asm. Perhaps one might say that it is the last as well; 
because that particular virtue seems to cover all the rest. 
Decidedly enthusiasm here includes fearlessness, unceas- 
ing optimism, limitless patience, the keen power of ob- 
servation, and that wondering love of creatures and 
things which is characteristic of all children, and which so 
often atrophies and dies when childhood itself is fading 
into a mere memory. 

In no one have these various qualities been more marked 
than in Charles Waterton, the first notable British natur- 
alist to tread the tropical forests of South America. But 
in addition to these ordinary and essential qualities of 
the naturalist, Waterton possessed many more. He was 
in the first place an all-round sportsman ; he possessed a 
keen sense of humor, a wide knowledge of the classics, 
and a peculiarly genial temperament. Had not the term 
been so abused, one would have rejoiced to call Charles 
Waterton ''a fine old English gentleman," as indeed he 
was. 

Waterton 's wanderings were entirely unconnected with 
any pecuniary benefit to himself. The squire of his 
neighborhood and the owner of that fine place, Walton 
Hall in Yorkshire, he could have lived a luxurious life 
had he wished. But though Waterton rode hard to 
hounds and played very thoroughly the part of a country 
gentleman, he utterly despised a life of ease. His sleep- 



398 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

ing room at Walton Hall possessed no carpet, not even a 
bed ! When the Squire of Walton felt inclined to sleep — 
which he usually did in summer as soon as it was dark, 
rising again at three o 'clock in the morning — he wrapped 
a blanket round him, lay down on the bare boards, and 
placed his head on the block of oak which always served 
him for a pillow. 

This habit will give some idea of the peculiarity 
of Waterton's temperament. His sympathy with the 
bright hues of nature was such that on no occasion what- 
ever — even when convention most strongly demanded it 
— was he prevailed on to wear so somber a thing as a 
black coat. From his boyhood he had proved himself de- 
voted to the study of wild creatures of all kinds, but es- 
pecially to that of birds, and, later, he undertook many 
experiments in the way of protection and refuges for 
these creatures. One of these was the nailing of dummy 
wooden pheasants to the trees of his preserves, having 
persuaded the live and genuine birds to roost nearer 
home. So when of a night on these occasions he would 
hear the distant shots of the poachers, he would chuckle 
to himself, knowing well enough that the marauders were 
getting more and more dumbfounded at the sight of those 
dimly seen sitting pheasants which obstinately refused to 
drop from their branches, even when pumped full of lead ! 

But it was in South America that Waterton was able 
to give his nature-loving propensities the fullest play. 
The Guiana forest was his favorite hunting ground, and 
there he roamed, perfectly at home with all the creatures, 
beloved by the Indians, and very much respected by the 
Portuguese when he happened to cross the border into 
Brazil, the fact of his being a Eoman Catholic no doubt 
assisting him in this latter intercourse. 

His roamings took him over much of that very country 
that had so enchanted Ealeigh more than two centuries 
previously, and of which the Elizabethan had said: 
* ' There is no country which yieldeth more pleasure to the 



SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 399 

inhabitants, either for those common delights of hunting, 
hawking, fishing, fowling, or the rest, than Guiana doth. 
It hath so many plaines, cleere rivers, abundance of Phes- 
ants, Partriges, Quailes, Eailes, Cranes, Herons, and all 
other f owle : Deere of all sorts, Porkes, Hares, Lions, Ty- 
gers. Leopards, and divers other sortes of beastes." 

But there was a wide diiference between the fortunes 
of the two travelers. Ealeigh sought gold, and found 
disillusion and death, while Waterton strolled to and fro 
in placid content — notwithstanding the mosquitos ! — seek- 
ing nothing beyond the acquaintance of the forest crea- 
tures. 

It is an extraordinary thing to one who knows the na- 
ture of these forests that Waterton should have been able 
to accustom himself to walk them barefooted. He never 
wore foot-covering, although the absence of this once 
caused him to be so severely staked as to be laid up for 
some weeks. 

But an accident of this kind never seemed of any real 
consequence to Waterton. In his enthusiasm to dive deep 
into the arms of his mother nature he seemed actually to 
succeed in making it a matter of indifference to himself 
whether he sustained any bodily hurt or not ! 

An eloquent instance of this is to be met with in his in- 
vestigation of the habits of the vampire bat. Now this 
vampire bat is a most unpleasant creature, many times 
bigger than any bat we know in England. Its most nota- 
ble predilection is to bore a small hole in the skin of sleep- 
ing animals or men, and through this to suck up as much 
blood as it can conveniently hold. 

The process, to say the least of it, is unpopular among 
human beings. For some reason or other, best known 
to the vampire bats, but probably owing to the natural- 
ist's habit of bleeding himself, Waterton had never been 
submitted to it. This appeared to him as something in 
the nature of an oversight, and in any case as a slur upon 
his enthusiasm as a naturalist. As it happens, the big toe 



400 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

is the favorite source in human beings from which this 
demoniacal visitor is wont to draw its sanguinary meal, 
and in a vampire-bat-haunted neighborhood these mem- 
bers are seldom willingly exposed. But night after night 
Waterton would hang out his big toe — invitingly uncov- 
ered — ^in order that the bats might relieve him of a pound 
or so of his blood. They never did. So Waterton had to 
go without his experience. He lamented the fact with a 
good deal of feeling, and ever afterwards bore these vam- 
pire bats a grudge for the poor compliment they had paid 
him! 

There is no doubt that Waterton 's enthusiasm was of a 
type which frequently proved most embarrassing to any 
assistant less devoted to the science than himself — and 
there surely could have been no assistant who was any- 
thing else. Such incidents as those attending the capture 
of a great Coulacanara snake — a creature of lesser length 
than the boa-constrictor, but of even greater girth, and 
enormously powerful — must have remained engraved for 
a very long time afterwards in the minds of the two Ne- 
groes who took part in it. 

The great snake was discovered fast asleep, and Wat- 
erton determined to attempt to pin it behind the neck 
with a lance, and so to capture it alive. The Negroes 
were terrified at the idea, but Waterton, having been for 
years searching for a specimen of this snake, was not to 
be turned from his purpose. In his own words : 

* ' I could now read in the face of the Negroes that they 
considered this a very unpleasant affair ; and they made 
another attempt to persuade me to let them go for a gun. 
I smiled in a good-natured manner, and made a feint to 
cut them down with the weapon I had in my hand. This 
was all the answer I made to their request, and they 
looked very uneasy.** 

One can hardly blame them for that ! It was clear to 
them that the condition of any mere human skin was about 
to be a matter of supreme indifference to Waterton, pro- 



SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 401 

vided that the snakes were secured uninjured ! But even 
Waterton admits that his own heart was beating quicker 
than usual, and that he felt the sensations of a passenger 
on a merchant vessel when, on the approach of a strange 
vessel under suspicious colors, the captain orders all 
hands on deck to prepare for action. 

However, Waterton struck accurately. The giant 
snake was pinned by the neck, and the next second the 
three daring assailants were being flung to and fro as 
they clung desperately to its coils. In the end victory 
lay with the human beings, and, its wicked mouth strapped 
about with the naturalist's braces, it was taken to a hut 
nearby. There, as it was too late for it to be killed and 
dissected that day, the great creature spent the night in a 
sack within a yard or two of Waterton 's hammock! '*I 
cannot say that he allowed me a good night," complains 
the Squire of Walton; ''he was very restless and fret- 
ful." 

The temptation to quote Waterton is almost irresisti- 
ble. Here is his account of his meeting with a smaller 
snake of the same species a week after he had secured the 
giant, and at the same spot : 

"I observed a young Coulacanara, ten feet long, slowly 
moving onwards ; I saw he was not thick enough to break 
my arm in case he got twisted round it. There was not a 
moment to be lost. I laid hold of his tail with the left 
hand, one knee being on the ground ; with the right I took 
my hat, and held it as you would hold a shield for defense. 

' * The snake instantly turned, and came on at me, with 
his head about a yard from the ground, as if to ask me, 
what business I had to take liberties with his tail. I let 
him come, hissing and open-mouthed, within two feet of 
my face, and then, with all the force I was master of, I 
drove my fist, shielded by my hat, full in his jaws. He 
was stunned and confused by the blow, and ere he could 
recover himself, I had seized his throat with both hands, 
in such a position that he could not bite me; I then al- 



402 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

lowed him to coil himself round my body, and marched 
off with him as my lawful prize. He pressed me hard, 
but not alarmingly so." 

On his way back Waterton occupied himself — of a cer- 
tainty in his own inimitably jocular fashion — in scolding 
an old Negro who had fled in a panic at the terrifying 
sight of a mingled man and snake approaching ! 

His interludes between these strenuous occurrences 
were devoted largely to what he himself would probably 
have termed lighter recreation. Thus half an hour after 
the capture of this lesser Coulacanara he would in all 
probability have been strolling along one of the less en- 
cumbered forest paths, spouting Ovid or Livy to the won- 
dering parrots. For the Squire of Walton took his fa- 
vorite authors with him everywhere, and lived with them 
in the depths of the forest, thus himself giving out a curi- 
ous atmosphere of ancient Rome to his world of endless 
leafage, where the monkeys chattered and unintentionally 
mocked his words. 

Of his daring encounters, the most famous is that with 
the alligator, but since very little has been heard of Wat- 
erton 's feats of late I will take upon myself to repeat it 
here. An alligator had been caught by the Indians on a 
baited hook. The Indians proposed to make an end of 
the monster by sending a flight of arrows into it, but Wat- 
erton was determined to bring it ashore alive so that its 
hide might not be injured. 

The Indians were terrified at the idea of so rash an un- 
dertaking, but as usual Waterton had his way. He ex- 
plained that no one but himself need come into contact 
with the saurian. This explanation dispelled the reluc- 
tance on the part of his assistants, whose faces showed un- 
mistakable relief. 

*'I then," relates Waterton, ''mustered all hands for 
the last time before the battle. We were, four South 
American savages, two Negroes from Africa, a Creole 
from Trinidad, and myself a white man from Yorkshire. 



SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 403 

In fact, a little tower of Babel group, in dress, no dress, 
address, and language. ' ' 

Then Waterton, having finally exhorted his motley 
army, went down to the water's edge to be the first to 
welcome the alligator on land. The quaint group of his 
assistants began to pull on the rope, and presently the 
great jaws of the creature made their appearance. Wat- 
erton himself confesses that he saw enough not to fall in 
love at first sight. But he urged his assistants to keep 
on pulling, while he himself waited to see if the beast 
would make for him. 

The alligator was too alarmed to attempt anything of 
the kind. So Waterton, moved to one of his wildest 
freaks, decided that he would become the aggressor. He 
made a run at the alligator, leaped into the air, and 
alighted on the animal's back. Then, before the alligator 
had time to resent it, he seized its forelegs, and twisted 
them over its back. After that, seated astride the crea- 
ture, and hanging on to its forelegs as a bridle, he awaited 
developments. 

They were not long in occurring. The alligator 
plunged and heaved in all directions, lashing furiously 
with its powerful tail. Waterton observes that it must 
have been a fine sight for an unoccupied spectator. This 
was evidently the opinion of the four Indians, the two 
Negroes, and the Creole, for they cheered and applauded 
so frenziedly that they forgot all about hauling on to the 
rope, and for a moment or two there seemed an uncom- 
fortable possibility of Waterton and the alligator disap- 
pearing backwards into the water in company. 

But in the end the alligator was drawn up safely, Wat- 
erton still keeping his seat on his strange buck-jumper 
with a success that none but a really good horseman could 
have hoped for. * ' It was the first and last time, ' ' he says, 
*'I was ever on a cayman's back. Should it be asked how 
I managed to keep my seat, I would answer — I hunted 
some years with Lord Darlington's foxhounds." 



404* BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Is it to be wondered at that a man like this had a hold 
over those Indians, Negroes, and Creoles such as very- 
few men of whatever complexion have possessed before 
or since? Mingled with the love and amusement with 
which the most free-hearted and free-handed of men in- 
spired them, was an almost superstitious sense of rever- 
ence for the being who knew no fear, and whose next 
action was no more to be foretold than was the track of 
one of their own forest jaguars. 

To have seen this singular man curing himself, strictly- 
after his own fashion, of malarial fever must have been 
alarming enough in itself. He had an implicit faith in 
the lancet, followed by doses of calomel and jalap. He 
seemed to think nothing of draining himself of sixteen 
ounces of blood at a time, and continued this latter treat- 
ment even when attacked by what was apparently yellow 
fever ! 

It must have been a remarkable sight, too, that of Wat- 
erton walking, barefoot, the tremendous forests of Gui- 
ana, completely at his ease, absorbed in the loves, the 
habits, the catastrophes of the creatures, and in fact, in 
every feather, hair, and habit of the birds and beasts. It 
must be admitted that the accidents with which he met 
were innumerable, being only rivaled by the number of 
his recoveries! Nevertheless the time came when these 
latter fell one behind, and when Charles Waterton, after 
a severe fall, died as pluckily as he had lived. 

But it was not in his beloved Guiana forests that the 
tragedy occurred. It was in his own park at Walton 
Hall that he met his end many years after he had ceased 
to wander in the tropics. For it was at the ripe age of 
eighty-three that Waterton 's life was ended — and that 
by an accident ! 

The next naturalist to visit South America was one 
of the most famous scientists that England has ever pro- 
duced. The general experiences of Charles Darwin — 
who sailed from Devonport on the 27th of December, 



SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 405 

1831, in the ten-gun brig Beagle, commanded by Captain 
Fitzroy — were infinitely more varied than those of 
Charles Waterton. 

It was Darwin's lot to be brought into contact with 
cities and men as well as with nature. With the rest of 
the Beagle's company he circumnavigated the southern 
half of the continent — varying his voyage by long cruises 
on horseback ashore — from the Brazilian port of Bahia 
to Iquique in Peru. 

He saw the Gauchos at work among the cattle in the 
Pampas ; he rode for many hundreds of miles along the 
plains, which were infested by the fierce, marauding, 
mounted Indians of the South; he had some rough-and- 
ready encounters with the uncouth savages of Tierra del 
Fuego. He traveled by boat along the Parana and Uru- 
guay rivers ; when inclined toward geology he proceeded 
to the heart of the Andes, and subsequently made his ob- 
servations on the coastal desert of Peru. In the course 
of his wanderings, too, he visited the towns of Bahia, Rio 
de Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Valparaiso, San- 
tiago, and Lima. He had the advantage, moreover, of 
speaking with many South American notabilities, includ- 
ing the famous General Rosas, who afterwards became 
the despot of Argentina. 

From a purely practical point of view, therefore, Dar- 
win's South American education was far more liberal 
than Waterton 's. On the other hand, where Darwin flit- 
ted from one point to another as a bird of passage, Wat- 
erton tramped his beloved forests as part and parcel of 
their familiar soil. Waterton was purely sylvan where 
Darwin was cosmopolitan. 

Nevertheless Darwin did obtain just one or two pass- 
ing glimpses of the Brazilian forests in the neighborhood 
of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. He must have fully appre- 
ciated their luxuriant charm, for he himself says that 
such days bring to a lover of natural history a deeper 
pleasure than he can ever hope to experience again. 



406 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Walks in England, lie continues, in amazement, are en- 
joyable because of their variety of attractions, ''but in 
these fertile climates, teeming with life, the attractions 
are so numerous that he is scarcely able to walk at all." 

But these forest excursions, doubtless to his regret, 
were only rapid interludes in Darwin's mission. His 
most important work in the continent was achieved in 
the comparatively bleak South. But before he arrived in 
the lower latitudes he had already experienced one or 
two minor adventures. For instance, when learning to 
throw the "bolas" — the heavy stone balls fastened to 
the ends of hide-rope which, when accurately thrown, 
wind themselves round an ostrich, an ox, or any other 
prey of the Gaucho — Darwin continued to entangle his 
own horse's legs, to the uproarious amusement of the 
Gauchos. A little later he and an expert guide spent an 
anxious hour, dodging two figures whom the Gaucho sus- 
pected to be the advance guard of a hostile Indian force, 
but who afterwards turned out to be two local ladies 
hunting for ostrich eggs ! 

It is, after all, such lighter episodes as this that serve 
to illuminate travels such as Darwin's, which abounded in 
the most strenuous scientific research. Some of the chief 
results were obtained in the giant fossilized remains 
which the naturalist was so successful in lighting on. He 
had found such objects as the fossilized teeth of the mas- 
todon, toxodon, and prehistoric horse on the banks of the 
Parana Eiver, as well as the fossilized armor of the ex- 
tinct giant armadillo. But these results were trivial com- 
pared with those obtained in the neighborhood of Bahia 
Blanca, which he describes as a perfect catacomb for 
monsters of extinct races. At Port San Julian, too, he 
was successful in discovering further remains of the 
greatest interest. 

When the Beagle penetrated as far south as Tierra del 
Fuego, there can be no doubt that Darwin's study of the 
very primitive native races of those inclement shores as- 



SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 407 

sisted in the maturing of his theories on the evolution 
of man. 

As a matter of fact, the Beagle had some rather special 
intercourse with these natives on this occasion. During 
the former voyage of the Beagle, which lasted from 1826 
to 1830, Captain Fitzroy had been forced by the natives* 
behavior to take a couple of their number as hostages. 
He was now bringing them back in the Beagle in order 
to repatriate them. 

This was effected after a certain number of complica- 
tions. The returning Indians, having learned a kind of 
Pidgin-English in the interval, had forgotten their own 
language! This sounds incredible, but was certainly a 
fact, and is to be accounted for by the exceedingly low 
brain power of these particular savages. When they 
first came into contact again with their naked, greasy, and 
tattooed relatives, there was a lack of enthusiasm on both 
sides. This is Darwin's description of their meeting: 

''The next morning after our arrival (the 24th) the 
Fuegians began to pour in, and Jemmy's mother and 
brothers arrived. Jemmy recognized the stentorian 
voice of one of his brothers at a prodigious distance. The 
meeting was less interesting than that between a horse, 
turned out into a field, when he joins an old companion. 
There was no demonstration of affection; they simply 
stared for a short time at each other; and the mother 
immediately went to look after her canoe." 

An attempt was made by the Beagle to leave a mission- 
ary of the name of Matthews among the Fuegians. Dar- 
win describes Matthews as a man of quiet fortitude : but 
the experiment did not prove a success. The Beagle re- 
turned to the spot where they had left him just in time to 
save his life. Night and day the natives had endeavored 
to tire him out, so that he might become off his guard, 
when he would have met with his end. 

The Beagle took Matthews on board again, and the 
ship's company parted with some reluctance from their 



408 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

own Fuegians, whom they left learning little by little to 
become savages again. After this Darwin cruised up the 
Pacific coast, landing at many places, and riding from 
point to point — notably crossing the Andes from Chile to 
Argentina, and returning — ^until the Beagle arrived at 
the Galapago Islands, whence she sailed for Tahiti and 
New Zealand. 

The country which was chosen by Bates and Wallace, 
the next two of the especially notable naturalists, lies be- 
tween Waterton's field in the North and Darwin's varied 
excursions in the South. Bates and Wallace chose the 
system of the great Amazon itself, the land where water 
and forest run side by side and intermingle, and where — 
as I have had occasion to say before — the landscape is 
painted in three unalterable colors, yellow, green, and 
blue — the yellow of the streams, the green of the forest, 
and the blue of the sky. The Amazon Valley is one of 
the few places left on earth which still retain their mys- 
tery, and even to this day the secrets held by many thou- 
sands of square miles of the densest vegetation on earth 
have still to be revealed. 

Henry Bates and A. R. Wallace arrived together in a 
small trading vessel at the mouth of the Amazon in May, 
1848. So far as Mr. Bates was concerned, this was the 
prelude to ten years of practically uninterrupted wan- 
derings along the innumerable streams of the Amazon 
and through the jungle that covers its banks. The ex- 
tent of the work achieved by Bates may be judged from 
the fact that in one place alone he discovered no less than 
seven thousand species of insects ! 

As a forest naturalist Bates' enthusiasm rivaled Wat- 
erton's, and it seemed to him at times that he was in an 
enchanted country that held more and more surprises for 
a lover of nature the deeper he penetrated into its matted 
glades. Sometimes the wonders he was apt to encounter 
were of the kind which many people might consider of the 
nightmare order. For instance, he himself relates in 



SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 409 

connection with the gigantic migale spider of the forest : 
* ' One day I saw the children belonging to an Indian fam- 
ily, who collected for me, with one of these monsters 
secured by a cord round its waist, by which they were 
leading it about the house as they would a dog. ' ' 

Now of course this is the sort of story that the ordi- 
nary cautious person would not tell to every one ! It is 
the kind of episode for which you should choose your 
audience with extreme care, and even then you should un- 
cork its tale very gently ! This would apply, of course, to 
an ordinary man, addressing an audience unacquainted 
with the Amazon forests. Bates was not an ordinary 
man, and his mere word, like that of his brother South 
American naturalists, sufficed for the accuracy of any 
statement he made. As to an audience acquainted with 
the Amazon jungle : they would admit that it was a large 
spider, and there the matter would end ! 

Indeed, Bates, like every one else who has entered the 
vast country of the Amazon, was destined to find out that 
it contained a certain number of imaginary perils, but 
many more real dangers. The most appalling of the for- 
mer was undoubtedly the roar of the howling monkey, a 
small and quite harmless creature with a peculiarly 
formed larynx, which enables it to give out a most un- 
earthly bellowing quite as full-toned and terrifying as the 
roar of a lion. 

Even the enthusiastic Bates admitted that this terrible 
noise made it difficult to retain a buoyancy of spirit. I 
can do no better than employ some of his own words in 
describing some of these noises of the tropical forest : 

' * Sometimes, in the midst of the stillness, a sudden yell 
or scream will startle one; this comes from some de- 
fenseless fruit-eating animal, which is pounced upon by a 
tiger-cat or stealthy boa-constrictor . . . often, even in 
the still hours of midday, a sudden crash will be heard 
resounding afar through the wilderness, as some great 
bough or entire tree falls to the ground. There are, be- 



410 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

sides, many sounds whicli it is impossible to account for. 
I found the natives generally as much at a loss in this re- 
spect as myself. Sometimes a sound is heard like the 
clang of an iron bar against a hard, hollow tree, or a 
piercing cry rends the air ; these are not repeated, and the 
succeeding silence tends to heighten the unpleasant im- 
pression which they make on the mind.*' 

None of these things would tend to soothe the spirits 
of a person wandering about in the midst of a perfectly 
safe country — and by no stretch of imagination could the 
Amazon jungle be termed that. The dangers and dis- 
comforts with which Bates was surrounded were quite 
sufficient in themselves without having any imaginary 
perils added. There were the storms which worked up 
with lightning rapidity on the wide stretches of the great 
river, raising waves that over and over again all but 
wrecked the boat on which he was traveling. There were 
drunken and lazy canoe Indians, much given to deserting 
before they had worked out their pay. Ashore, the ja- 
guar, the boa-constrictor, and a dozen other most impor- 
tant enemies of man were ready to resent in the most un- 
pleasant fashion any unintentional disturbance of their 
forest rights. Most of the Indians were friendly, it is 
true, but not all, and in some districts it was never certain 
that a horde of painted and feathered savages would not 
rush in to the attack at any moment. There were whites, 
too, *'bad men," who were notoriously handy with their 
bullets; there was the lack of wholesome food; there 
was the ordinary malaria, and, above all, there was the 
dreaded yellow fever. 

Bates did not escape this most terrible disease. Fail- 
ing medical assistance, he was his own doctor, and con- 
tinued to treat himself even when the attack was at its 
height, and it was to his own efforts that he owed his re- 
covery. 

But no danger or hardship could deter Bates. Year 
after year he went on, fighting the heat, the insects, and 



SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 411 

all the other enemies of mankind, spending day after day 
in the study of a single species of ant, bird, or beast, and 
adding to his invaluable collections all the time. 

No European, however, can afford to despise the cli- 
mate of the Amazons for many years on end. Bates's 
health was undermined, and undoubtedly none but a man 
of his inflexible courage could have continued his work in 
the forests for as long as he did. In the end a serious 
attack of ague left him with shattered health, and settled 
his business for good and all. 

Even then it was only with the greatest reluctance that 
Bates — after various desperate attempts to renew his ex- 
cursions into the jungle had resulted in nothing beyond 
further shivering fits — packed up his collections, and 
prepared to sail for England, the only course by which 
his life might be saved. 

Once on board the sailing vessel, it was with the keen- 
est regret that he watched the thick yellow of the Amazon 
waters fade into the clear blue of the open ocean. He 
had become a child of the Amazon by temperament. It 
was his constitution that had failed him, as must that 
of every European in such surroundings. He himself, 
admitting his gloomy reflections at that moment, 
says: 

"A crowd of unusual thoughts occupied my mind. 
Recollections of English climate, scenery, and modes of 
life came to me with a vividness I had never before ex- 
perienced during the eleven years of my absence. Pic- 
tures of startling clearness rose up of the gloomy win- 
ters, the long gray twilights, murky atmosphere, elon- 
gated shadows, chilly springs, and sloppy summers; of 
factory chimneys and crowds of grimy operatives, rung 
to work in early morning by factory bells ; of union work- 
houses, confined rooms, artificial cares, and slavish con- 
ventionalities. To live again amidst these dull scenes I 
was quitting a country of perpetual summer, where my 
life had been spent like that of three-fourths of the people 



412 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

in gipsy fashion, on the endless streams, or in the bound- 
less forests." 

At the moment of parting, as was natural enough, 
Bates seems completely to have forgotten that there was 
a very dark side to the tropical existence, and a very 
bright one to English life. But after a time this became 
clear to him, for he writes : 

' * It was natural to feel a little dismayed at the prospect 
of so great a change; but now, after three years' renewed 
experience of England, I find how incomparably superior 
is civilized life, where feelings, tastes, and intellect, find 
abundant nourishment, to the spiritual sterility of half- 
savage existence, even though it be passed in the Garden 
of Eden." 

The experiences of Mr. A. E. Wallace, who sailed out 
to the Amazon in the same vessel as Bates, were naturally 
of a similar nature. Wallace, however, undertook an 
even greater number of canoe journeys, and his adven- 
tures here were even more diversified than those of Bates. 
He passed many months in canoes which proved them- 
selves rotten and leaky, and sometimes in a strong wind 
squall it was a question of minutes as to whether the wind 
would die down or the frail vessel go to pieces. On one 
occasion in the midst of a stormy and pitch-dark night, 
Wallace's boat was laboring so much that all hope was 
abandoned. All at once, just as those on board were ex- 
pecting to find themselves in the waves, their craft be- 
came perfectly still. As the gale was still howling as 
loudly as ever, the thing seemed perfectly inexplicable, 
until the morning showed them that their cranky little 
ship had, most fortunately for its occupants, run into one 
of those enormous beds of floating grass which are fairly 
common on the Amazon, and which had sheltered the 
canoe from an otherwise certain destruction. All this is 
to say nothing of the cataracts ; for it was now and then 
Wallace's lot to have to undertake the passage of no 





SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS 



SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 413 

fewer than ten distinct dangerous rapids in the course of 
a single day! 

His Indian assistants, moreover, were no more satis- 
factory than those of Bates. Sometimes the local au- 
thorities pressed them very unceremoniously into the 
service, and once one of Wallace's Indians insisted on 
leaving him in order to return and kill a Brazilian who 
had ill-treated him! Another of the naturalist's assist- 
ants was a youthful but refractory character who wore a 
large chain round his body and leg as a punishment. This 
was concealed beneath his trousers, but it clanked with a 
sinister and disagreeable sound at every step he took. 

Even the people of authority in those regions of that 
day were by no means devoid of their own peculiarities. 
There seemed no reason in the least, for instance, why 
the commandant of a district should not be a murderer at 
the same time, providing he were powerful enough to 
maintain his authority. In many neighborhoods the most 
ordinary forms of morality were nonexistent, which is 
not surprising in view of the example set by a certain 
number of the local priests. One of these — ^who had pre- 
viously been a soldier — confided to Wallace that he had a 
great respect for his cloth, and never did anything to 
disgrace it — in the daytime! 

Wallace, in spite of every discouragement, including a 
frequent meagerness of rations, continued to drift about 
the countless streams of the Amazon, landing from time 
to time to make a fire and cook, and setting out along the 
bank with collecting net and shot-gun. Sometimes in the 
narrower streams the canoe became filled with ants, '*of 
fifty different species," says Wallace, "each producing 
its own peculiar effect, from a gentle tickle to an acute 
sting. ' ' Then there were swarms of wasps, and of course 
the insatiable and inevitable mosquito, and last, but not 
least, the ferocious pium fly, from whose bites the blood 
ran freely. 



414 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Wallace's journeyings brought him more into contact 
with the forest Indian tribes than did those of the other 
naturalists I have referred to. He would often put in 
his appearance at one of the great maloccas, the tribal 
huts where many families lived together in a species of 
primitive socialistic existence. The appearance of many 
of these people, painted gaily and adorned on festal oc- 
casions with a wealth of most brilliant feathers, was 
striking in the extreme, and Wallace has given many 
excellent descriptions of their costume, dances, customs, 
rude rock carvings, weapons, and of the manner in which 
they contrived their curious blow-pipes. 

As regards his interest in the wild creatures them- 
selves of the forest, it will be seen from the following 
that Wallace was a worthy comrade of the other three. 
One day in the depths of the forest he met that most 
fierce creature, a black jaguar, face to face. For a mo- 
ment the two gazed fully at each other, then the jaguar 
walked steadily on, and disappeared in the jungle. 

"This encounter pleased me much," observes Wallace 
quite calmly. ''I was too much surprised, and occupied 
too much with admiration, to feel fear. I had at length 
had a full view, in his native wilds, of the rarest variety 
of the most powerful and dangerous animal inhabiting 
the American continent." This was, of course, the view 
of a confirmed naturalist. The majority of us surely 
would have felt the fear first and would have reserved 
the admiration for a later and more convenient occasion ! 

The Amazon climate was less merciful to Wallace than 
the jaguar. After many minor bouts of fever he found 
himself completely laid up by a violent attack and by sub- 
sequent fits of ague, while his Indians, joyously seizing 
so bounteous an occasion, made themselves drunk with 
the spirit which he had brought with him to preserve 
his specimens. 

Wallace's time had come, for a second hint of the kind 
would have been the last. Packing up his collections, 



SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 415 

he made his way toward the coast, while the visions of 
glad English fare, and even of the intense luxury of sim- 
ple bread and butter, now rose up before him with a 
warmth and clearness that had been denied to Bates. 

Wallace succeeded in boarding the homeward-bound 
vessel in safety. But the ship caught fire, and was burned 
at sea. After many days in boats, the crew and the pas- 
sengers were saved. But Wallace had nothing but what 
he stood up in. All his collections, the fruits of his labors 
in the Amazon forests, were at the bottom of a tropical 
sea! The blow was a severe one. ''Everything was 
gone," he complained, ''and I had not one specimen to 
illustrate the unknown lands I had trod, or to call back 
the recollections of the wild scenes I had beheld. ' ' 

But after this he seems to have 'settled himself down 
to his writings, and to have made the best of it, as an 
Amazon naturalist could scarcely fail to do. 

The last member of this group of famous naturalists 
is Eichard Spruce, who sailed from Liverpool to South 
America in 1849. Spruce remained among the tropical 
rivers, forests, and mountains until 1864, when, after a 
sojourn of fifteen years among surroundings the enchant- 
ment of which continued unabated, the climate obtained its 
inevitable victory, and sent him home to England in shat- 
tered health. 

Compared with his colleagues of this chapter. Spruce 
was a botanist rather than a zoologist. Nevertheless, 
although he paid special attention to the marvelous vege- 
tation of the Amazon and Orinoco basins, and the Vene- 
zuelan and Ecuadorian highlands, he has a certain 
amount to say concerning the habits of the local fauna, 
and a good deal more concerning the anthropology of the 
northern districts of the continent. 

It is no doubt to be regretted that on his death in 1893 
at the age of seventy-six he should have left behind him 
no complete volume containing the records of his experi- 
ences and life work. Nevertheless this deficiency has 



416 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

been made good by the veteran Mr. Wallace, who, with 
all the sympathy of friendship and knowledge, has edited 
Spruce's notes, letters, and numerous publications of 
lesser bulk. 

Richard Spruce was a Yorkshireman in whom the love 
of botany had burned since his earliest years. He had 
abandoned the scholastic profession for the career of a 
botanist for almost half a dozen years before an oppor- 
tunity came to him to transfer his researches to the great 
South American field — an opportunity which no man of 
his temperament could fail to embrace with enthusiasm. 

Spruce, having landed at Para, soon found himself 
amid the full wonders of the Amazon forest. Here is his 
account of one of the earliest adventures which befell him 
and a companion: 

*'0n the second or third night of our sojourn at Caripi, 
happening to awake a little after midnight, I saw King 
lying with his head out of his hammock and nearly touch- 
ing the ground, while close by his ear sate a sooty imp, 
which from its size might be a big toad, like Eve's dream- 
prompter ; but the lamp which burnt dimly in a corner of 
the room gave too little light to allow me to see clearly 
what it was. I leaped from my hammock, seized my 
ter§ado, sprang across the room, and as I pinned the 
monster to the ground, he opened wide his wings and 
showed himself to be a young bat of the largest kind. I 
had scarcely performed this feat when the two parent 
bats sallied forth from the roof and attacked me; and 
when I beat them off, they flew round and round the 
room, attempting to strike me with their wings every 
time they passed me, and I them with my terQado. By 
this time King was wide awake, and seeing the odd com- 
bat that was going on, but not knowing how it had or- 
iginated, sat up in his hammock convulsed with laughter, 
in which I heartily joined." 

After various excursions Spruce set out from Para for 
Santarem in an eighty-ton brig owned by a Captain His- 



SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 417 

lop, an old settler on the Amazon, and a sufficiently no- 
table character in his way. At Santarem he made the ac- 
quaintance of Wallace, and it is almost unnecessary to 
add that the friendship between the two kindred tem- 
peraments was instantaneous. 

It was in 1850 during Spruce's residence at Santarem, 
that the blight of the yellow fever descended suddenly 
upon the Amazon for the first time. On that occasion 
Santarem escaped — although whether the precautions 
adopted by the panic-stricken inhabitants of that town 
brought about the immunity is more than doubtful. One 
of these consisted of dragging field guns through the 
streets and of firing them at short intervals in order, to 
clear the atmosphere of the fatal germs ! 

On the whole, Spruce's existence in tropical South 
America was very similar to that of his predecessors 
and colleagues. He suffered from the same perils of 
tempests, river rapids, disease, and occasional famine. 
In his relations with the Indians he underwent a greater 
number of narrow escapes than any of the rest. 

It is difficult to imagine a more depressing situation 
than, fever-stricken, to be lying at death's door in the 
charge of an old Indian hag, whose salutation would take 
the form of such adjurations as: ''Die, you English 
dog, that we may have a merry night with your dollars !" 
Very little pleasanter can it be to lie in a hammock, 
straining one's ear to catch the whispers of the Indian 
attendants planning to murder the white man as soon as 
he should have fallen asleep ! 

On the one occasion, moreover, when Spruce obtained 
the rarest of all apparent boons, the assistance of an Eng- 
lishman in the lonely waters of the Upper Amazon basin, 
his good luck turned out to be far less pronounced than 
he had imagined. The man in question was a sailor who 
had entered the country in company with a number of 
other Englishmen and Americans who had been attracted 
to the spot by a false report of gold on the Upper 



418 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Maranon. To all appearances a quiet and respectable 
man, his true nature became evident all too soon after 
Spruce had engaged him. The botanist discovered that 
it was the newcomer's intention to murder him on the 
first opportunity for the cash he carried, and, once put on 
the alert, he found out to his dismay that this seemingly 
honest sailorman had already been imprisoned in Peru 
for murder. The man's violence, combined with a deaf- 
ness w^hich caused him to imagine that all laughter on 
the part of others was directed at his own person, made 
him a continual danger to all the Portuguese and Indians 
with whom he was brought into contact. Spruce was 
glad to get rid of his truculent assistant at a consider- 
able monetary sacrifice; but it was not without regret 
that he heard subsequently that the sailor had met his 
death at the hands of the Indians. 

Compared with these adventures, it was a minor ex- 
perience which befell the botanist when climbing the vol- 
cano Pichincha, near Quito, and which he thus describes : 

*'I had only lately emerged from the sickroom, and 
got very much fatigued with the two hours of steep, 
rugged climbing. At the highest point we reached, we 
lay down to rest on the grass, and I had lain a few min- 
utes with my eyes closed when I suddenly felt as it were 
a flag waved over my face, and looking up saw an im- 
mense condor sailing over us at only a few feet distance. 
My companion sprang to his feet with a shriek, and 
prepared to defend himself with his stai¥. 'He thinks 
we are dead, ' said he, * and if we had lain a moment longer 
we should have felt his beak and claws in our faces!* 
The condor was immediately joined by two others of his 
species, but being baulked of their prey, they rose in 
slowly widening circles, and at length appeared only 
specks on the bright heaven.'* 

Occasionally a gleam of humor lightened Spruce's 
travels, but not often. Undoubtedly one of the rare in- 
stances of this was afforded by the trader who had been 



SOME BRITISH NATURALISTS 419 

commissioned by Dr. Natterer to procure him some 
sarsaparilla seed, but, being, according to his own lights, 
a patriotic person, he dreaded the consequences to his 
country that would arise from its successful cultivation 
in a foreign land. So, in order to prevent any danger of 
the kind, he carefully boiled the seed before handing it 
over to the unsuspecting Doctor Natterer ! 

Spruce did not confine his wanderings to the Amazon 
forests. His botanical excursions included Venezuela, 
the Orinoco, and the Ecuadorian Andes, and frequently 
caused him to pay fleeting visits to the centers of civiliza- 
tion. The longevity of some of his countrymen whom 
he met with in the lofty mountain towns of Ecuador 
caused him no small amount of natural amazement. He 
mentions a Doctor Jervis, nephew of the first Earl of 
St. Vincent, who died at Cuenca at the age of a hundred 
and fifteen, and at Quito he met with a Mr. Cope, who, al- 
though he counted eighty-five years, trotted about as 
nimbly as a young man. 

Nevertheless the span of life of these very British 
naturalists — fever-riddled as they were — ^would in itself 
seem to shatter the ordinary theories concerning climate 
and age. I have no note concerning Bates's death; but 
all the others exceeded seventy years, and, indeed, the 
average age of the four would be somewhere in the neigh- 
borhood of seventy-five ! In the face of the quite excep- 
tional perils undergone by all of climate, reptiles, rivers, 
and fellow men, this is surely a most amazing record ! 

Much, of course, has been accomplished since these five 
splendid naturalists achieved their work. Among the 
later men who have distinguished themselves in the same 
field — though not necessarily in the same latitudes — is 
that fine writer, W. H. Hudson. But to attempt to refer 
to the deeds of the later British naturalists would be to 
require a larger volume than this. 



CHAPTER XXII 

SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 

Scope of the chapter — Periods of the literature dealing with South Amer- 
ice — Nature of the first works dealing with the continent — DiflScultiea 
of the early chroniclers in the face of the Spanish policy — Hakluyt 
and Purchas — Some salient passages from Hakluyt — Writings of Sir 
Walter Raleigh — Sir Richard Hawkins — Esquemeling — John Ogilby — 
Bucaneer authors — Sir John Narbrough — Raleigh and Mandeville — 
Eighteenth-century popular geography — Gordon's work — A paragraph 
from Guthrie — Methods of the early illustrators — Charles Brockwell 
— The voyage and adventures of Captain Robert Boyle — Anson's voy- 
age — Other sea-records of the period — Dr. Samuel Johnson on the 
Falkland Islands — Thomas Falkner's description of Patagonia — 
Robertson's history of South America — How "The Present State of 
Peru" was published — Volumes dealing with mission work and ship- 
wreck — Adventures of John Davie — Literature following the British 
expedition to the river Plate — Molina's work translated into English 
by Washington Irving — The various types of nineteenth-century Brit- 
ish writers on South America — The first travel books proper — Some 
examples — Captain Head's work — Curious preface to an anonymous 
book — Various volumes of the 1820's — J. P. and W. P. Robertson's 
books — Early nineteenth-century works on Brazil and its new court 
— Robert Southey's history of Brazil — Henderson's history — Works by 
Mrs. Graham, John Luccock, G. F. Mathison, and the Rev. R. Walsh 
— Literature on the Pacific coast — Aquatints — Books on the Northern 
republics — Some impressions of Bolivar — Captain Cochrane's journal 
— Waterton and Darwin — Some records of salt and fresh water voy- 
ages — Armitage's history of Brazil — Travel books — Sir W^oodbine 
Parish and Captain Allen F. Gardiner — Two curious publications — 
Volumes on the river Plate — Prescott's "History of the Conquest of 
Peru" — Various publications of the 1840's — Works of Sir Arthur 
Helps and Sir William Gore Ousely — Publications by the Naturalists, 
Wallace, Bates, and Spruce — Further travel books — Hinchliff''s work — 
C. B. Mansfield — A notable personality — The charm of his relation 
of his South American experiences — Various extracts — His journey 
to Paraguay — Some United States publications — The work of Gilliss 
and Ewbank — Kidder and Fletcher on Brazil — The cruise of the 
Waterwitch — Admiral Cochrane's memoirs — Volumes by BoUaert, 
Hutchinson, and Latham — Some extracts from the last — Miscellaneous 
volumes — Books dealing with the Paraguayan war — Sir Richard Bur- 

420 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 421 

ton — Indian adventure — Translation of a notable book — A long vaca- 
tion in the Argentine Alps — Modern writers whose fame is not con- 
fined to South America — Lord Bryce, R. B. Cunninghame Graham, 
W. H. Hudson, Sir Martin Conway — Sir Clements Markham — Books 
on British Guiana and the Falkland Islands. 



THE length to which this chapter has attained de- 
mands some explanation. Let its chief cause be 
put at the fact that while the scope of the topic 
of the British writers on South America is a large one, 
the scope of their writings must of necessity be consid- 
derably wider! And, in considering the authors, it is 
impossible to separate them from their work. 

I have tried to avoid the lengths to which an excur- 
sion into this latter tempts the student. Nevertheless, 
since so much of the subject matter of these books is 
directly concerned with the thread of this story, it would 
have seemed a waste of opportunity not to extract here 
and there some of the more salient features from the 
pages. In doing this, some authors must, of course, be 
led forward somewhat at the expense of others, whose 
work may be considered of equal merit. But even the 
possibility of such injustice as this is surely preferable 
to the tedious alternative of quoting the similar views 
or experiences of two authorities on the same subject. 

Occasionally I have quoted at some length — ^more espe- 
cially in the case of Mansfield — ^but this is only where it 
has seemed to me that the literary style of the writer, 
added to the value of the experiences, justified such 
wholesale gleanings. 

It must be explained that — ^up to the year 1870 — the 
books referred to here are in no way supposed to con- 
stitute a comprehensive list. But for the ordinary 
student of South American affairs they will, I hope, suf- 
fice as an index for a practical and efficient course of 
reading. 

In an attempt of this kind the great number of books 
which come crowding forward with legitimate demands 



422 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

for attention have made it impossible to include pam- 
phlets or the numerous notable articles in the Koyal Geo- 
graphical Society's magazine, and other publications of 
the kind. Indeed, considerations of space have prevented 
separate mention of many of the very large number of 
valuable works dealing with South America published 
by the Hakluyt Society. 

On the other hand, seeing that in subjects of this kind 
North American works appeal to much the same public 
as do the British, it has seemed advisable to include 
many of the most notable books by American authors pub- 
lished in the United States. Here the remark concern- 
ing the entire absence of any claim to a comprehensive 
list applies with greater force. 

The English literature dealing with South America 
naturally resolves itself into periods which correspond 
with the various historical phases of the southern con- 
tinent. Thus the first works dealing with the Spanish 
South American colonies were descriptive of the feats of 
our Elizabethan sailors — that is to say when the soaring 
imagination of the author did not carry him inland, to de- 
pict fabulous people, customs, natural phenomena, and 
such mythical spots as the city of Manoa, to which refer- 
ence has already been made. 

With the rarest exceptions, even among Englishmen of 
the Roman Catholic faith, the only English who caught 
a glimpse of anything beyond the coast-line of early Span- 
ish South America were prisoners. It was very seldom 
that one of these unfortunate captives ever sailed his way 
back over the broad ocean again. If he did, it might be 
taken for granted that the scope of South American 
vision permitted him had been very limited. 

If the chroniclers who dealt with Spanish South Amer- 
ica were betrayed into numerous errors, they had suffi- 
cient excuse for their mistakes. Every bit of such in- 
formation as they gleaned was only obtained in the face 
of the active opposition of the Spaniards, whose policy 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 423 

it was to prevent any knowledge of the continent from 
reaching the foreigner. 

In the present day, even when assisted by railways, 
guide-books, and personally conducted excursions, the 
verdict of a globe-trotter on a foreign country is not in- 
frequently found to be at fault! What chance had the 
early navigators, then, who, when approaching a port, 
were welcomed by a roundshot instead of an hotel touf? 

Naturally, this system of withholding information ap- 
plied especially to maps and charts. The Spaniard took 
care to cover up his tracks, on sea and shore, to the ut- 
most extent that lay in his power. If a Spanish vessel 
gathered some useful information by driving her nose 
on to a hidden rock, the chart that marked the lurking 
peril was held secret from foreign eyes — ^to the extent 
of flinging it, weighted, overboard, should the ship that 
carried it be threatened with capture by an English 
vessel. At the same time, it must not be gathered from 
all this that the Spanish official in South America was 
necessarily as callous as this procedure would make him 
out. He was merely the instrument of a considered and 
callous policy. He himself had nothing to gain if a for- 
eign vessel foundered on that rock, concealed by nature 
and the Spaniard; it was his Government alone that 
supposed it gained some advantage from the disaster. 

Be that how it may, it is from the navigators alone 
that the first records of Spanish South America are ob- 
tainable, and they are to be looked for in such famous 
collections of voyages as those of Hakluyt and Purchas. 
Previous to these, no writers of any special importance 
would seem to have concerned themselves with the do- 
ings of their fellow-countrymen in South America. 
Nevertheless Hakluyt has a reference to the effect that: 
''That learned and painefull writer Richard Eden in a 
certain Epistle of his to the duke of Northumberland, 
before a worke which he translated out of Munster in 
the yeere 1553, called a Treatise of new India, maketh 



424 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

mention of a voyage of discoverie undertaken out of Eng- 
land by Sir Thomas Pert and Sebastian Cabota, about 
the 8. yere of King Henry the eight of famous memorie, 
imputing the overthrow thereof unto the cowardice and 
want of stomack of the said Sir Thomas Pert." 

Of these two famous collectors, Hakluyt and Purchas, 
there is no doubt that the work of Richard Hakluyt is in- 
finitely the more valuable. One who has read through 
the books of that splendid and staunch old clerical travel- 
editor will have won for himself a priceless familiarity 
with the rovings of the early English seamen, and conse- 
quently with one of the most vital pages of English his- 
tory. The collector of ''The Principal Navigations, Voy- 
ages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation 
... at any Time within the Compasse of these 1600 
yeares" was a loyal Englishman who rejoiced in the awak- 
ening of his country's spirit, and who demanded in the 
first of his dedications : 

''For, which the kings of this land before her Majesty, 
had theyr banners ever seene in the Caspian sea? Which 
of them hath ever dealt with the Emperor of Persia, as 
her Majesty hath done, and obteined for her merchants 
large and loving privileges? Who ever saw before this 
regiment, an English Ligier in the stately porch of the 
Grand Signor at Constantinople ? Who ever found Eng- 
lish Consuls and Agents at Tripolis in Syria, at Aleppo, 
at Babylon, at Balsara, and which is more, who ever heard 
of Englishmen at Goa before now"? What English 
shippes did heeretofore ever anker in the mighty river of 
Plate? Passe and repasse the unpassable (in former 
opinion) straight of Magellan, range along the coast of 
Chili, Peru, and all the backside of Nova Hispania, fur- 
ther than any Christian ever passed, travers the mighty 
bredth of the South sea, land upon the Luzones in des- 
pight of the enemy, enter into alliance, amity, and traf- 
fike with the princes of the Moluccas, and the Isle of Java, 
double the famous Cape of Bona Speranza, arrive at the 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 425 

Isle of Santa Helena, and last of al returne home most 
richly laden with the commodities of China, as the sub- 
jects of this now flourishing Monarchy have done?" 

Richard Hakluyt, moreover, gives out more of this 
sterling enthusiasm, which is worth quoting here. Here 
is his ringing suromary of South American affairs: 
''Then in processe of yeeres ariseth the first English 
trade to Brasill, the first passing of some of our nation in 
the ordinarie Spanish fleetes to the West Indies, and the 
huge Citie of Mexico in Nova Hispania. Then immedi- 
atlye ensue 3, voyages made by Mr. John Hawkins now 
Knight, then Esquire, to Hispaniola, and the gulfe of 
Mexico: upon which depende sixe verie excellent dis- 
courses of our men, whereof some for 15. or 16. whole 
yeeres inhabited in New Spaine, and ranged the whole 
Countrie, wherein are disclosed the cheefest secretes of 
the west India, which may in time turne to our no smal 
advantage. The next leaves thou turnest, do yeelde thee 
the first valiant enterprise of Sir Francis Drake upon 
Nombre de Dios, the mules laden with treasure which he 
surprised, and the house called the Cruzes, which his fire 
consumed: and therewith is joyned an action more ven- 
turous than happie of John Oxnam of Plimmouth written, 
and confessed by a Spanyard, which with his companie 
passed over the streight Istme of Darien, and building 
certaine pinnesses on the west shoare, was the first Eng- 
lishman that entered the South sea. ' ' 

One more extract from these preliminaries to the great- 
est work on travel extant will suffice. This shows Rich- 
ard Hakluyt, parson though he was, in a mood of right- 
eous defiance. For he is concerned here with the Queen's 
enemies, and he is, first and foremost, a good English- 
man. As such, these are his words : 

''Moreover, because since our warres with Spain, by 
the taking of their ships, and sacking of their townes and 
cities, most of all their secrets of the West Indies, and 
every part thereof are fallen into our peoples hands 



426 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

(which in former time were for the most part unknowen 
unto us,) I have used the uttermost of my best endeavour, 
to get, and having gotten, to translate out of Spanish, and 
here in this present volume to publish such secrets of 
theirs, as may any way availe us or annoy them, if they 
drive and urge us by their sullen insolencies, to continue 
our courses of hostilities against them, and shall cease to 
seeke a good and Christian peace upon indifferent and 
equal conditions." 

Who can deny that this is a revelation of an admirable 
spirit in that man of astonishing industry, Richard Hak- 
luyt. 

Beyond these, there are, of course, such separate works 
as that of Sir Walter Raleigh with its tragic associations, 
published in 1596: ''The Discovery of the Large, Rich, 
and Beautiful Empire of Guiana, with a Relation of the 
Great and Golden City of Manoa .... performed in the 
year 1595." Of special interest, too, is that rare book 
which contains: *'The Observations of Sir Richard 
Hawkins, Knight, in his Voyage into the South Sea, Anno 
Domini 1593," published in 1622. And then, if you de- 
sire to follow further the exploits of some British among 
a host of cosmopolitan colleagues you may refer to Es- 
quemeling's "Bucaniers of America," the valuable first 
edition of the translation of which was printed in 1684-5 
by ''William Crooke, at the Green Dragon without Tem- 
ple Bar." In 1671 one of the first serious attempts at 
the general history of South America was made by John 
Ogilby, and the result is a handsome royal folio volume, 
curiously illustrated, entitled "America." 

The works of Dampier (1709), Ringrose, and the other 
bucaneer authors have already been so fully dealt with 
that it is unnecessary to refer to them again here. We 
may jump forward, therefore, to the details of some more 
legitimate cruising. 

In 1711 was published the relation of Admiral Sir John 
Narbrough's discoveries: "An account of several late 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 427 

Voyages and Discoveries; Sir John Narbrongh's Voy- 
age to the South Sea by the Command of King Charles 
the Second, and his instructions for settling a Commerce 
in those parts, with a Description of the Capes, Harbours, 
Rivers, Customs of the Inhabitants and commodities in 
which they trade, ' ' etc. 

Even at this period the knowledge of the interior of the 
continent was extraordinarily scanty. It is not neces- 
sary to turn back the pages of history as far as Sir 
John Mandeville to obtain some quaint description of 
men, beasts, and things. Perhaps one of the few re- 
proaches which can be held against the memory of that 
most admirable and chivalrous person. Sir Walter Ral- 
eigh, is that he allowed the glowing Guianas to set his 
imagination on fire, thus providing a somewhat reckless 
example in the drawing of the long bow on the Orinoco ! 
Indeed, Raleigh's confident reports of the nation of the 
Ewaipanoma — the nation that had their eyes in their 
shoulders, their mouths in the middle of the breasts, and 
a "long traine of haire" sprouting backwards from their 
shoulders — prepares his readers for his confession of 
faith in Mandeville: *' whose reports were holden for 
fables many yeeres, and yet since the East Indies were 
discovered, we find his relations true of such things as 
heretofore were held incredible." 

As late as the eighteenth century the ordinary geo- 
graphical work published in England on South America 
was notable quite as much for the curious quality of its 
statements as for what it left unsaid! To take a single 
example quite at haphazard out of the great number 
available, '^ Gordon's Geographical Grammar," pub- 
lished in 1702. Dedicated to the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, it was an eminently respectable and weighty work, 
this — '* Comprehending a general view of the terraque- 
ous globe . . . with a transient survey of the surface 
of the earthly ball . . . and a clear and pleasant pros- 
pect of all remarkable countries. ..." 



428 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

But even Gordon found it a difficult matter to peer 
through the veil which the Iberians had drawn across 
South America. Even of "Terra Firma," which com- 
prised the northern part of the continent including the 
Guianas, there is little to be said. And such information 
as is volunteered is strikingly vague. Now and again 
we seem to be drawn halfway into the editor 's confidence. 
We are told for instance that : ''in one of the Branches of 
Orenoque River, in such a hideous Cataract, that the 
water falling down, makes as loud a noise as if a thousand 
Bells were knock 'd one against another." 

Now supposing that you had lived in the year 1702 and 
had wished to see and hear for yourself this hideous cat- 
aract with its thousand bells — ^well, there was the whole 
of the great Orinoco system to choose from, and you 
might have spent many years paddling to and fro before 
you heard even so much as a single tinkle! All this is 
subject to the further supposition that you had not made 
the discovery that the sentence had been lifted from Ral- 
eigh's description of his sixteenth century Orinoco trav- 
els ! And the neighborhood of another dreadful cataract 
— on the Amazon this time — must have been still harder 
to discover. For the only clue to its identification was 
that the canoes of the daring natives, when they fell down 
it, were accustomed to ''turn topsie-turvy many times." 

Forsaking this topic of "rarities" for that of "man- 
ners," we find that the information is correspondingly 
slender. For instance, after a curt statement that the 
Guiana cannibals are hunters, and walk naked above their 
middles, we are torn away from the neighborhood of 
these interesting folk — to whom we have had time 
scarcely even to nod — with the following parting observa- 
tion: 

"The eating of human Flesh (especially that of van- 
quished Enemies) is so relishing to the pallate of those 
savages, that two Nations of them by mutual Devouring 
are now reduc'd to two Handfuls of Men." 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 429 

Mr. Gordon has clearly missed an opportunity here of 
bringing his metaphor still more into line with the tastes 
of his enthusiastic cannibals, which he might so easily 
have effected by the substitution of Mouthfuls for Hand- 
fuls! 

The fact is that, thanks to the Iberian obstructive meth- 
ods, Mr. Gordon knew very little about South America. 
But he is at least frankly conscious of his limitations, for 
that which he says of the Amazon government applies to 
the rest: ''A further enquiry into the same, must be re- 
ferr'd to the better Discovery of future Ages." 

We have certainly no reason to complain of this when 
we consider the occasional European ignorance of the 
eighteenth century, as displayed, for instance, by the 
French map-maker, referred to by Charles Kingsley in 
''Hereward the Wake," who left all the Scottish country 
to the north of the Tay a blank, with the inscription: 
"Terre incuUe et sauvage, habit ee par les Highlanders." 

In later words such as Guthrie's '^Geography of 1788," 
the influence of a vastly increased number of mariners 
and travelers on the South American coasts is already 
evident. Even so, the greater part of the information is 
sketchy and vague to a degree. 

It is when we arrive at the problem of anthropology 
and natural history that the weak spots even in this more 
recent geographer's armor become most apparent. Thus 
we are told of the Moon-eyed Indians, a fair-skinned race, 
so called from the weakness of their blue eyes that, un- 
able to bear the rays of the sun, served them best by 
moonlight ! Among the matters of historical interest we 
are served up with the voluptuous and picturesque asser- 
tion that the inhabitants of Lima in order to provide a 
really efficient welcome for a certain viceroy had the 
streets paved with silver for his entry, to the tune of a 
cool seventeen million pounds sterling ! How deeply the 
contemporary readers must have deplored the extinction 
of bucaneering proper ! 



430 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

But the most extraordinary blend of truth and imag- 
ination here is revealed in the description of the sloth. 
So quaint a piece of prose is this that I will give it in 
full. Guthrie dilates with much reason on the sloth's 
tardy movements : 

''When he moves, every effort is attended with such a 
plaintive, and at the same time, so disagreeable a cry, as 
at once produces pity and disgust. In this cry consists 
the whole defense of this wretched animal. For on the 
first hostile approach it is natural for him to be in motion, 
which is always accompanied with disgustful howling, so 
that his pursuer flies much more speedily in his turn, to 
be beyond the reach of this horrid noise. When this ani- 
mal finds no wild fruits on the ground, he looks out with 
a great deal of pains for a tree well loaded, which he 
ascends with a world of uneasiness, moving, and crying, 
and stopping by turns. At length, having mounted, he 
plucks off all the fruit, and throws it on the ground, to 
save himself such another troublesome journey; and 
rather than be fatigued with coming down the tree, he 
gathers himself in a bunch, and with a shriek drops to 
the ground." 

Surely the pathos of the last is only equaled by the ex- 
traordinary vision conjured up of the flight from each 
other at their respective speeds of the sloth's enemy and 
of the sloth! 

Of course I do not quote such fragments as these on 
account of their intrinsic interest or rarity. They are 
merely intended to exemplify the ordinary kind of in- 
formation doled out at these periods to the wondering 
public, and for this purpose I have merely taken up from 
my library such books as came first to hand. 

Other works, such as "The Universe Displayed ..." 
published in 1768, seem to have been given out in a spirit 
of self-complacency such as that which promised for this 
that it would be ' ' one of the most beautiful as well as most 
entertaining works that has yet been published. ' ' 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 431 

The form in whicli this large claim materialized itself 
will be made clear to the reader by the following extract 
from the preface: '*We shall give our Account in the 
Way of a Dialogue between Sophron, a studious Youth, 
Sophia, his sister, fond of reading and improving her 
Mind, and Mr. Worthy, an intimate Friend of the Fam- 
ily, who had traveled over most Parts of the World, and 
is fond of improving the Minds of Sophron and his Sister, 
and of informing them of what he has seen or heard of 
most remarkable in his Travels. ' ' 

The pictorial illustrations of many of these seventeenth- 
and eighteenth-century volumes are sufficiently instruct- 
ive in themselves. This, moreover, does not apply only 
to the quaintly conceived beasts, birds, reptiles, and fishes 
— grotesque and dreamlike creatures these appear to the 
modern eye. The conception of the South American In- 
dian was equally bizarre, although here and there the ex- 
aggeration leaned to the euphemistic side. Those worthy 
artists who drew to order in London seemed extraordina- 
rily loth to depict a South American native who was not 
possessed of a stately, noble, and handsome appearance. 

In this it must be admitted that they did not go to 
the lengths to which their French confreres proceeded. 
These, when imagining an Inca lady, had a weakness for 
depicting a demoiselle of Versailles — features, manner- 
Isms, and smile — clothed in classic draperies. Indeed, 
generally speaking, the Grecian model served these Med- 
iterranean-minded souls for all the aborigines of the 
Southern continent, irrespective of type and geography! 
At the same time there is no doubt but that many Eng- 
lish illustrations of the period were somewhat unduly in- 
fluenced by such accounts as that of Ealeigh's description 
of the wife of an Orinoco Cacique : 

''In all my life I have seldome seene a better favoured 
woman : shee was of good stature, with blacke eyes, fat of 
body, of an excellent countenance, her haire almost as 
long as her selfe, tied up againe in pretie knots, and it 



432 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

seemed shee stood not in that awe of her husband, as the 
rest, for shee spake and discoursed, and dranke among 
the gentlemen and Captaines, and was very pleasant, 
knowing her owne comelinesse, and taking great pride 
therein. I have seene a Lady in England so like to her, 
as but for the difference of colour, I would have sworne 
might have been the same. ' ' 

This description of Raleigh's, of course, was written 
from memory — and from the memory of a poetic temper- 
ament. Had he met the Guiana lady in the flesh in the 
neighborhood of St. James I feel convinced that some of 
Raleigh's reminiscences would have suffered an abrupt 
shattering. So much so that I doubt whether his cloak 
would have been at her service even on the muddiest 
day! 

After this we may proceed to enumerate a few works, 
more or less in chronological order. 

In 1726 Charles Brockwell produced a work, which does 
not seem to have affected later historians to any appreci- 
able extent : * * The Natural and Political History of Por- 
tugal ... to which is added the History of Brazil and 
all other Dominions subject to the Crown of Portugal," 
etc. 

In 1774 appeared a volume — I imagine not of the first 
edition — ^by ''Captain R. Boyle," entitled, ''The voyages 
and adventures of Captain Robert Boyle. ' ' Now the ad- 
ventures of this Captain Robert Boyle were acute and 
varied, and he appears to have come into contact with 
Dampier, and with other famous personalities of the age. 
I often used to wonder how it was that neither Dampier 
nor any one else referred to this very notable personality 
in return, since Boyle was clearly not the sort of man to 
be overlooked — ^until it was put to me — by Mr. Francis 
Edwards — that these cleverly constructed adventures 
were apocryphal. The work, as a matter of fact, is 
ascribed to W. E. Chetwood, although there are some who 
hold that it is from the pen of Benjamin Victor. 




SOUTH AMERICAN CATTLE 




SOUTH AMERICAN OXEN 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 433 

Anson's voyage round the world has been described by 
Richard Walters in 1748. Another volume was devoted 
to this by John Phillips in 1744 ; a third was given out by 
Pascoe Thomas in 1745, while ''A Midshipman on board 
the Centurion" published yet another account in 1767. 

The ill-fated British expedition to Carthagena, which 
was to have struck Spanish America from the east, while 
Anson was playing his part in the west, is described in 
''Authentic Papers relating to the Expeditions against 
Carthagena, being the Resolutions of the Councils of 
War, both of Sea and Land officers" etc. This is an 
octavo volume, published in 1745. 

It should be remarked, too, that Smollett, the novelist, 
accompanied the British forces to Carthagena, and pub- 
lished an account of the expedition. 

Various narratives concerning the wreck of H.M.S. 
Wager were published about the middle of the eighteenth 
century, among them one by Isaac Morris, midshipman: 
''Narrative of the Dangers and Distresses which befel 
Isaac Morris and Seven of the Crew of the Wager . . . 
left on an uninhabited part of Patagonia." (1747.) An- 
other account was published by Alexander Campbell about 
the same time. 

In 1768 Commodore the Hon. John Byron gave an "Ac- 
count of the Great Distresses suffered by Himself and 
Companions on the Coast of Patagonia, 1740, with De- 
scription of St. Jago de Chili and its inhabitants, also 
relation of the Loss of the Wager/' one of Anson's 
squadron. This, as a matter of fact, followed the "Voy- 
age round the World in H.M.S. Dolphin, commanded by 
Commodore Byron, with a Minute description of the 
Streights of Magellan and the Patagonians, etc.," which 
had been published in the previous year (1767) by "An 
officer on board the said ship. ' ' 

In 1771, it should be said. Dr. Samuel Johnson gave 
out his "Thoughts on the late Transactions respecting 
Falkland Islands" — thoughts which — I admit the failure 



434 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

with shame — I have never perused, taking it for granted 
that their sententiousness was no less weighty than that 
which hung about most of the thoughts of the worthy 
and tremendous doctor! The tenor of Johnson's 
thoughts seem to have been against the retention of the 
islands as a British settlement. 

In 1774, the Jesuit Missionary Thomas Falkner pro- 
duced from his very varied experiences a slim and ad- 
mirably printed quarto volume : * ' A Description of Pat- 
agonia and the adjoining Parts of South America: Re- 
ligion, Government, Customs and Language of the In- 
habitants, and some Particulars of the Falkland Islands." 
Falkner 's work, dealing with the provinces of the stalwart 
and warlike Indians, outside the zone of the contempo- 
rary Spanish influence, is peculiarly interesting. He con- 
tributes, moreover, some valuable ethnological matter in 
his description of the eighteenth century Nomad Indians 
of the Pampa, whose ceramic remains and stone weapons 
are still found in the sand and along the banks of the 
streams north and south of the Tandil Range. They were 
the predecessors of the ''Pampa" Indians of modern 
times, and were undoubtedly the link uniting the Pehuel- 
ches and Patagonians to the now extinct Querandies and 
Charruas of the river Plate estuary. The Spanish au- 
thorities appear to have regarded Falkner 's missionary 
efforts with a certain amount of suspicion, although, 
speaking from memory, I think that no hint of this ap- 
pears in his book. 

An important historical work is that of Doctor William 
Robertson's, ''The History of South America" (of which 
the author's copy, second edition, is dated 1778). This is 
a notable milestone in the historical road of South Ameri- 
can literature, and even at the present time it may still 
serve in many respects as a standard work. 

In 1805 appeared, edited by Captain Joseph Skinner, an 
interesting book, "The Present State of Peru," in which 
were included twenty very curiously colored illustrations, 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 435 

mostly concerned with the contemporary Peruvian cos- 
tume. 

The manner in which this publication came to see the 
light is in itself quite out of the ordinary. On the capture 
of the Spanish galleon Santiago bound from Lima to 
Cadiz, in 1793, a number of copies of a Peruvian maga- 
zine — the existence of which had not been suspected until 
then — ^were discovered. Much of this magazine matter, 
translated and commented upon, made up the ''Present 
State of Peru," and thus in this rather strange fashion 
a good deal of light was thrown on a colony, the affairs of 
which the Spaniards were jealously endeavoring to keep 
concealed from Europe and North America. 

A somewhat remarkable publication of this period is 
Gregory's ''Journal of a Captured Missionary," which 
takes in the adventures of the missionaries of the ship 
Duff in the years 1798 and 1799. These worthy folk, 
when on their way to the South Sea Islands, were cap- 
tured by French privateers in the neighborhood of Rio. 
Landed in Montevideo, they were brought into contact 
with the mutineers of the Lady Shore, who, convicts bound 
for Botany Bay, had overcome their guards and brought 
their vessel into Montevideo. Apart from the interest 
of the adventures it relates, this book is notable for the 
unusual self-complacency of its tone. 

A second volume on this subject was published in 1809, 
"Some interesting particulars of the second voyage made 
by the Missionary ship, the Duff.^' 

Toward the end of the eighteenth century (the edition 
which I have come across, not the first, is dated 1794) was 
published an octavo volume, the lengthy title of which 
may be given nearly in full, since in itself it is not without 
its historical instruction: "Unfortunate Englishmen, or 
a faithful Narrative of the Distresses and Adventures of 
John Cockburn, and five other Mariners . . . who was 
taken by a Spanish Guarda Costa, in the John and Ann, 
Capt. Burt, and set on shore, naked and wounded, at Porto 



436 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Cavallo, containing a Journey over Land from the Gulph 
of Honduras to the Great South Sea ; wherein are many 
new and useful Discoveries. ..." 

Between 1803 and 1806 was published an important 
contribution to the literature of southern navigation in 
Admiral James Burney's '* Chronological History of 
Voyages and Discovery in the South Sea or Pacific 
Ocean." 

Two very curious and mystifying volumes are those 
published by John Davie in 1805 and 1819 respectively: 
''Letters from Paraguay, Buenos Aires, Montevideo," 
and ''Letters from Buenos Aires and Montevideo." 

In the advertisement of the first volume the author is 
described as "a gentleman of liberal education and con- 
siderable property, having been disappointed of his hopes 
of happiness with a beloved female, to relieve the distress 
of his mind resolved to travel. ' ' 

John Davie was on his way from New York to Aus- 
tralia, when a storm forced the captain of his vessel to 
put in to Buenos Aires for repairs. There, Davie him- 
self, going ashore, was seized by a violent attack of fever. 
The ship in which he was a passenger had to proceed on 
its way, and Davie was left to recover in the exceedingly 
good care of the fathers of the Convent of St. Dominic, 
When quite restored to health he took the dress of a no- 
vitiate, and was afterwards known among the Dominicans 
as Father Mathias. A curious circumstance is that, al- 
though from the moment of his first entrance into the 
convent it had been taken for granted that he was a Ro- 
man Catholic, Davie never seems to have formally em- 
braced that faith ! 

Attending a superior. Father Hernandez, to whom he 
became devotedly attached, Davis traveled to some of 
the inland missions of the Uruguay River, and testified 
to the manner in which the Spanish soldiers interfered 
with the work of the mission. In the end the fierce Char- 
rua Indians rose against the military, and Davie was 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 437 

present at a dreadful massacre. He himself, as a sup- 
posed Dominican, was shielded from the wrath of the 
victorious Indians. 

His adventures were of the strangest, and he was as- 
siduous in his observations, which, as the concluding 
words of the advertisement explain: ''he took every op- 
portunity of communicating to his friend in this country 
through his agent at New York by means of the American 
captains trading to South America. After his return to 
Buenos Aires, it is certain that he went to Conception, in 
Chile, as he was last heard of from that place, in the year 
1803 ; but whether he lost his life in any insurrection of 
the natives, or was imprisoned by the government in con- 
sequence of his correspondence being detected, is un- 
known. ' ' 

Decidedly John Davie was a romantic person, both in 
his personality and prose. His book tends to leave the 
reader in a rather doubtful frame of mind. He has no 
particular reason to suppose that events did not occur as 
they are set down in Davie 's pages, yet he cannot refrain 
from a certain wonder, for all that ! 

The first important flood of English literature at first 
hand on the Spanish South American dominions, was let 
loose on the occasion of the British expedition to the river 
Plate. A volume which makes clear some of the reasons 
of the enterprise is James Biggs 's ' ' History of Don Fran- 
cisco Miranda's Attempt to effect a Revolution in South 
America, in a series of Letters; to which are annexed 
sketches of the Life of Miranda and geographical Notices 
of Caraccas." 

Of the books on the subject which I have had the occa- 
sion to possess or to see, the following would seem the 
most notable : 

One of the first that apparently saw the light was a 
pamphlet, anonymous and undoubtedly inspired, in de- 
fense of the discredited General Whitelocke. This, enti- 
tled ' ' Truth and Wisdom versus Calumny and Folly, ' ' ap- 



438 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

peared in 1807. It is, of course, a piece of special plead- 
ing, and is a fairly worthless production. 

It was owing to these expeditions, too, that Samuel 
Hull Wilcocke published in 1807 his ' ' History of the Vice- 
royalty of Buenos Aires." 

The next work in seniority was a publication of quite 
a different order. This, published in 1808, was ''Notes 
on the Vice-royalty of La Plata, by a gentleman recently 
returned from it." This is undoubtedly the work of a 
joyous youth, a connoisseur of dames, in whose breast 
the disaster must have been to a certain extent compen- 
sated by the fairness of the Montevidean ladies. 

I have referred to this author in a previous work, but 
he is not to be passed by here. He gives a sufficiently 
graphic picture of the contemporary life of Montevideo, 
and renders to the Oriental ladies all the praise that 
should be theirs by right. But occasionally, it seems, 
there was a fly in the ointment. In his words : 

''Their fine figures and graceful carriage they retain, 
even after their other charms are fled. From this cir- 
cumstance, one is sometimes betrayed into unpleasant and 
ludicrous mistakes. After following through several 
streets a pretty figure with a well-turned ankle and a 
brisk and airy step, by a sudden inclination of the head 
you discern with mortification and horror, instead of the 
lovely features of youth and beauty which your fancy 
had pictured, the dusky visage of a lean and wrinkled 
hag. ..." 

Obviously the writer suffered from the impetuosity of 
youth. But, as I have remarked before, how unfair is the 
irritability of the last sentence! Why should a respect- 
able elderly lady be termed a lean and wrinkled hag just 
because her gait was daughter to her features? Picture 
the scene! Imagine the dusty and ill-paved streets of 
the town, along which lumber the heavy chariots of 
the age, holding the fair forms of the Montevidean female 
youth, who have already turned the head of the fair- 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 439 

haired, fresh-colored, uniformed stranger. And then, 
alone and on foot, appears the lady — the back of the lady 
— of anachronistic properties. With his brain in a whirl 
the stranger follows the fascinating ankles. Past street 
corner after street corner, each marked by its protecting 
cannon stuck in the soil, go the pair in the same order, 
the northern youth becoming more and more inflamed as 
he is drawn farther from the center of the town. At last 
the lady turns her head — and the world turns blank at the 
same time! Then follows the epithet! You will agree 
that he was well served. So much for the gentleman re- 
cently returned from the river Plate ! 

A book which deals more soberly with this important 
subject, and which is one of the most reliable of all in its 
details, is the *' Authentic Narrative of . . . the Expedi- 
tion under Gen. Crawford . . . with . . . the operations 
under Gen. Whitelocke. By an officer of the expedition. ' ' 
This was published in 1808. 

Major Alexander Gillespie's *' Gleanings and Remarks 
... at Buenos Aires" (1819) supply one of the serious 
historical sides to this tragic expedition. 

Another important publication is one by Lieutenant 
Robert Fernyhough published in 1829: ''Military Me- 
moirs of Four Brothers in the New World." This sup- 
plies an excellent description of the Beresford Conquest 
and capitalization, and of the adventures of the British 
prisoners when they were interned in the Condor Valley 
in Cordoba. 

Two further notable books on the subject are, ''The 
Journal of a Soldier of the Seventy-first Regiment of 
Highland Light Infantry," (1822), which throws some 
interesting sidelights on the occurrences, and the "Me- 
moirs of a Serjeant of the 5th Regt. of Foot," a small 
undated book, bearing Masonic emblems on its frontis- 
piece, which gives a most spirited account of the opera- 
tions. 

Some further relations of the ill-fated expedition are 



440 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

given in Sir George Mouat Keith's Voyage to South 
America, and the Cape of Good Hope in H.M's Brig, 
Protector, published in 1819. 

Having now finished with the literature concerning this 
expedition we must hark back a few years to 1808 when a 
very important work: ^'The Geographical, Natural and 
Civil History of Chili," written by the Abbe Don J. Ig- 
natius Molina, was translated into English by ' ' An Amer- 
ican Gentleman," who was in reality no less a personage 
than Washington Irving. 

The accuracy of a certain number of Molina's observa- 
tions on natural history have been occasionally challenged 
by later naturalists ; but the work is nevertheless a most 
invaluable one, and the scope of its information very wide. 
As an appendix the work contains notes on Alonzo de 
Ercilla's famous poem, the Araucana, ''with copious 
translations from that poem, by William Hayley, Esq., 
and the Rev. H. Boyd." 

There is one rather curious feature connected with the 
English literature on South America of the nineteenth 
century. The authors of the books which saw the light 
during this period belonged to various walks in life. 
There were diplomats such as Parish and Ousely; there 
were soldiers such as Head ; sailors such as Hall, Smythe, 
Lowe, and a score of others. Naturalists, headed by Dar- 
win, Waterton, Bates and Wallace, have given us many 
books; and the volumes for which the clergy have been 
responsible are numerous enough, including those of 
Walsh, Murray, and a number of chaplains and mission- 
aries. Estancieros such as Latham, Hadfield, and — to 
come to the present day — Herbert Gibson, have given out 
valuable work. And then there have been the impres- 
sions of literary travelers such as Mansfield and Hinch- 
liff to light up for the benefit of the general public the 
scenes through which they passed, as well as the solid 
work of journalists and newspaper proprietors such as 
Mulhall. It is surely unnecessary to extend this cate- 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 441 

gory further, else poet-historians like Robert Southey, 
and the great North American writer, Prescott, might be 
included. 

So much for the professions and occupations of the 
great majority of the British authors of the nineteenth 
century who dealt with South America. But what of the 
men who went out to that continent to occupy themselves 
in purely commercial pursuits — the great army of busi- 
ness men who outnumbered all these others put together 
very many times over? Their voices have been strangely 
silent, so far as print is concerned. 

Yet their occupations have been varied enough. The 
man who has banked or insured in one of the great capi- 
tals of the continent ; the shipper of timber, cereals, and 
chilled meat; the dealer in hides, horns, and fleeces; the 
importers of agricultural and mining machinery, and, in 
fact, all those who make up the company of buyers 
and sellers, canvassers, creditors, and debtors — the ex- 
periences of very many of this great host must have 
been interesting enough to afford most instructive pe- 
rusal. 

In almost every case they remain to be written! The 
average British business man of South America is the 
very last person who can be accused of having rushed into 
print. He has doubtless found a more profitable use for 
his pen. A receipt is as easy to write as an essay; but 
he who writes many essays will write few receipts ! 

It was in the 1820 's that South America first came 
within the field of the travel-book proper. Curiously 
enough nearly every one of these works is concerned with 
the journey from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, or 
vice versa, and the passage of the Andes which was in- 
volved. 

Thus in 1822 was published * ' The Narrative of a Jour- 
ney from Santiago de Chile to Buenos Aires ' ' by Lieuten- 
ant Edward Hibbert. TJiis was rapidly followed by sim- 
ilar publications by Gilbert Farquhar Mathison (1825), 



442 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Alexander Caldcleugh (1825), John Miers (1826), Cap- 
tain Andrews (1827), Captain — afterwards Sir — Francis 
Head (1828), Lieut. Charles Brand (1828). All these 
books are descriptive of the long posting journey through 
the dust or mud of the Argentine plains — ^where the In- 
dian peril frequently lurked — and the strenuous and 
often dangerous passage of the Andine peaks. 

Of these books, mostly very slender in bulk, one of the 
most graphic and impressionistic is Captain Head's. 
Many of these fleeting impressions were no doubt faulty, 
but Head was a keen observer, blessed with a sense of 
humor, who interested himself in his glimpses of the local 
anthropology, and was not above laying stress on such 
topics as the remarkable independence of the Gaucho 
child, and the like. In order to show this author as he is 
I will pluck a few lines from his pages, not from those 
dealing with his more dramatic and Indian-haunted ca- 
reerings across the plains. This is merely an incident 
concerning a pig: 

''I saw a man on foot select a very large pig from a 
herd, and throwing a lasso over his neck, he pulled it 
with all his strength, but the pig had no idea of obeying 
the summons: in an instant a little child rode up, and 
very quietly taking the end of the lasso from the man, he 
lifted up the sheep-skin which covered the saddle, fixed 
the lasso to the ring which is there made for it, and then 
instantly set off at a gallop. Never did any one see an 
obstinate animal so completely conquered ! With his tail 
pointing to the ground, hanging back, and with his four 
feet all scratching along the ground like the teeth of a 
harrow, he followed the boy evidently altogether against 
his will; and the sight was so strange, that I instantly 
galloped by the side of the pig, to watch his countenance. 
He was as obstinate as ever until the lasso choked him, 
and then he fainted and fell on his side. The boy dragged 
him in this state, at a gallop, more than three quarters 
of a mile over hard, rough ground, and at last suddenly 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 443 

stopped, and jumping off his horse, began to unloose the 
lasso: — "Estd muerto!'' (he is dead) said I to the boy, 
really sorry for the pig's fate. "8td vivo!'' exclaimed 
the child, as he vaulted on his horse, and galloped away. 
I watched the pig for some time, and was observing the 
blood on his nose, when, to my great surprise, he began 
to kick his hind leg: he then opened his mouth, and at 
last his eyes ; and after he had looked about him, a little 
like Clarence after his dream, he got up, and very lei- 
surely walked to a herd of ten or twelve pigs of about the 
same size as himself, who were about twenty yards off. I 
slowly followed him, and when I came to the herd, I saw 
that, from the same cause, they had every one of them 
bloody noses." 

This extract seems to me to combine several merits. 
There is a subtle and indefinable porcine flavor about it 
which seems to suggest the atmosphere of Charles Lamb's 
famous essay on the sucking-pig — added to a sketch of a 
contemporary Gaucho child, and of the minor livestock 
operations of the period ! 

Beyond this I must not omit to mention a little anony- 
mous book published in 1824, the ''Narrative of a Jour- 
ney from Santiago de Chile to Buenos Aires, in July and 
August, 1821," which contains this curt and unpromising 
preface : 

''This journal is only the catalogue of vexations that 
assailed an individual passing the Andes in the midst of 
winter, and, subsequently, crossing the Continent of South 
America. 

"With his mind wholly intent on speedily finishing his 
journey, and sufficiently occupied in surmounting the dif- 
ficulties that obstructed it, he had little inclination and 
less leisure to profit by those few opportunities of remark 
which might have presented themselves during his rapid 
progress; still less was he disposed, or able, when the 
day's work was done, to devote any time to reflection. 
Fatigued to death, hardly awake, memory failing, he has- 



444 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

tily wrote what first occurred, and frequently fell asleep 
whilst noting down the events of the day. ' ' 

Tempora mutantur. This is not the sort of book no- 
tice one meets with among the modern publishers' ad- 
vertisements ! But the reader must not judge this anony- 
mous and too modest an author's work by its preface. 
Notwithstanding this attempt at self-condemnation, the 
book gives a mos,t interesting account of a perilous 
journey. 

It was at this period, too, that Mrs. Graham published 
her ''Journal of a Eesidence in Chile, during the year 
1822-1824" — a work which deals shrewdly enough with 
the contemporary political situation in Chile, as well as 
with the local manners and customs, and the author's ex- 
periences. 

A book that is worthy of perusal is an illustrated three 
volume publication, "An Historical and descriptive Nar- 
rative of twenty-four years' Residence in South Ameri- 
ca," produced by W. B. Stevenson in 1825. 

In the following year was produced in New York ''A 
view of South America and Mexico by a Citizen of the 
United States," by John Milton Miles. /, ;' " 

Among other descriptive works is J. Thomson's ''Let- 
ters on the Moral and Religious state of South America, 
written during a Eesidence of nearly seven years in Bue- 
nos Aires, Chile, Peru, and Colombia" (1827). 

In this year, too, was issued Captain (afterwards Sir 
Francis) Head's "Reports relating to the Failure of the 
Rio Plata Mining Association, formed under the author- 
ity, signed by His Excellency, Don Bernadino Rivadavia" 
• — a document that is not without its importance in the 
commercial world. 

One of the first volumes which dealt with Paraguay in 
its curious hermit phase was the "Narrative of Facts 
connected with the Change effected in the Political Con- 
ditions and Relations of Paraguay, under the Direction 
of Dr. Thomas Francia," etc. (1826). 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 445 

This was in some sense a prelude to the ''Letters on 
Paraguay" by J. P. and W. P. Eobertson, published in 
1838. These letters are of deep interest, although they 
necessarily lose a great deal by the fact that they were 
written nearly thirty years after the events which they 
describe. The authors were fortunate in meeting nu- 
merous South Americans of distinction including the 
Paraguayan Dictator Francia, the Argentine General 
San Martin, and many others. 

So absorbing is the interest of the matter with which 
the Eobertsons have dealt that there is no doubt that 
their strong sense of the dramatic has in the course of 
these letters more than once taken the bit in its teeth and 
run away with them. That much of their work was ac- 
cepted seriously by that fine Argentine historian. General 
Bartolome Mitre, is evidenced by the fact that he incor- 
porated a number of their pages into his "Historia de 
San Martin. ' ' Nevertheless here and there it seems clear 
that matters of history and hearsay have been promoted 
out of their rightful category to the rank of personal ex- 
periences narrated at first hand. Nevertheless, when 
such froth has been blown away a quantity of valuable 
matter remains. 

In 1839 these authors published a continuation of their 
letters, " Francia 's Reign of Terror," and in 1843 they 
produced a third work : ' ' Letters on South America. ' ' 

We may now turn to a few books on Brazilian topics. 

An insight into the annoying methods in which the Bra- 
zilian colonial officialdom often thought fit to indulge is 
given by Thomas Lindley's "Narrative of a voyage to 
Brazil, terminating in the seizure of a British vessel, and 
the Imprisonment of the Author and the Ship's Crew," 
etc. It saw the light in 1805. This, however, must have 
been one of the last instances of such procedure on the 
part of a narrow-minded colonial government, for Brazil 
was on the eve of important changes and political pro- 
motion. 



446 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

In 1810 Lieutenant Count Thomas O'Neill gave to the 
public ^'A Concise and Accurate Account of the Proceed- 
ings of the Squadron under the command of Rear- Admiral 
Sir Sydney Smith in effecting the escape of the Royal 
Family of Portugal to the Brazils on Nov. 29, 1807 ; and 
also the Sufferings of the Royal Fugitives, etc., during 
their voyage from Lisbon to Rio Janeiro. ' ' 

While on the subject of such episodes, a notable contri- 
bution to general history may be considered. 

Immeasurably the most important nineteenth century 
historical work on Brazil was Robert Southey's '* History 
of Brazil," the first volume of which appeared in 1810. 
The poet, who was greatly assisted by his uncle, the Brit- 
ish chaplain in Lisbon, obtained special facilities, and the 
access to many valuable state documents, for the writing 
of this book. The result is a most admirable work, which 
still takes rank as the standard publication on the history 
of Brazil up to the early nineteenth century. As such, 
indeed, it has been acknowledged by the Brazilians them- 
selves. 

Seven years elapsed between the publication of 
Southey's first volume and that of his second. In the 
meantime a French historian had published a history of 
Brazil, and, while twitting Southey with the charge that 
his first volume had revealed nothing new, accused him 
of having abandoned the promised completion of the work. 

Southey's retort to M. Alphonse de Beauchamp occu- 
pies the greater part of the preface to his second volume. 
So far as reputation is concerned, it leaves his antagonist 
as nude as Adam before the apple ! It shows conclusively 
that de Beauchamp 's work is nothing but the most fla- 
grant plagiarism of Southey's first volume, even to the 
extent of using the marginal references of this latter as 
the list of authorities ! 

This was turning the tables with a vengeance. Indeed, 
it is difficult to suppose that the publication of this pref- 
ace did not leave de Beauchamp plastered with shame, 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 447 

yet, possibly not : the other appears to have been a hard- 
ened criminal in this respect : ' * For M. Beauchamp, ' ' says 
Southey, ''is no novice in the art of plagiarism, as M. de 
Puissaye and others of his countrymen may bear wit- 
ness." 

This work of Southey 's, it may be said, has met with 
as much appreciation in Brazil as in England, a high test 
of its value. 

In 1821 appeared *'A History of the Brazil" by James 
Henderson, which, published by the same firm, has an ap- 
pearance which is almost identical with that of Southey 's 
''Brazil." Henderson's work is a most useful produc- 
tion, but why, in those days of a tenuous output of vol- 
ume, it should have been published just after Southey 's 
masterwork had seen the light, is difficult to understand. 
Perhaps the author himself had some doubts on this point, 
for in his dedication to Lord Lowther he hopes that "if 
the style in which I present the new fruit, gathered from 
the branches of the tree of knowledge that are spread in a 
far country, is not considered interesting, the fruit itself 
will be found, I hope, acceptable and useful. ' ' 

However, perhaps Henderson relied on the plates which 
he claims, are "amongst the best of their style" to eclipse 
the interest in Southey 's unillustrated volumes. Cer- 
tainly the frontispiece, representing Dom Joao of Portu- 
gal and Brazil accompanied by queerly-anatomical horses 
and men, is as unconsciously humorous as any of those 
old-fashioned Japanese or Hindu representations of Eu- 
ropean life. But even such as this did not suffice to dis- 
turb Robert Southey 's clear supremacy! 

We may now turn to some lighter work. 

Just as a number of English authors hastened to de- 
scribe the independent states into which the one-time 
Spanish colonies had resolved themselves, so did many of 
their colleagues give their impressions of Brazil in its 
first period of royalty. 

Among the earliest of these was a book published in 



M8 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

1812 by John Mawe : ' ' Travels in the interior of Brazil, 
particularly in the gold and diamond districts of that 
country, including a voyage to the Rio de la Plata. ' ' This 
book is a notable publication in its way, since it is the first 
to describe the remoter interior of the country. 

Other works descriptive of Brazilian life and landscape 
of this period were written by Mrs. Graham (1820), John 
Luccock (1820), G. F. Mathison (1825), and the Rev. R. 
Walsh, who in his ** Notices of Brazil" presents a very 
lively and interesting picture of the society and manners 
such as prevailed in the new Kingdom of the Tropics. 
Mr. Walsh was chaplain at the British embassy at Rio 
de Janeiro, and met most of the notabilities of Brazil, 
from the emperor downwards. Being a broad-minded 
cleric, he made the fullest use of his frequent opportuni- 
ties of absorbing local knowledge. 

Mrs. Graham's book, too, is sufficiently notable for the 
insight it affords into the affairs of the Brazilian court. 
This lady, it may be explained, was instructress for a 
year to Dona Maria of Portugal at Rio. The daughter 
of Rear-Admiral Dundas, her first acquaintance with 
South America was made in her husband's (Captain 
Graham, R. N.) frigate. His death off the Chilean coast 
left her a widow, and after her sojourn in Chile and Brazil 
she returned to England, and eventually became the wife 
of the well-known artist Calcott. 

As so much space has already been devoted to the prin- 
cipal early nineteenth century writers on the Pacific coast 
it will not be necessary to deal with them at any length 
here. 

Captain Basil Hall 's ' * Extracts from a Journal written 
on the Coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico (first pub- 
lished, I think, in 1823; the author's edition (1824) is the 
second, is in many respects the most valuable of all these. 
This book, however, has already been fully dealt with. 
Then, of course, there are Cochrane 's own reminiscences, 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 449 

and General Miller's Memoirs, published in 1828. These, 
too, need no further mention. 

A very quaint little production which comes under this 
heading of the Pacific coast is the ''Narrative of the Brit- 
on's Voyage," by Lieut. J. Shillibeer, E. M. It is true 
that this work only touches lightly on both the Atlantic 
and Pacific coasts of South America, but much of it is of 
considerable interest, and, incidentally, it may be said 
that the ingenuousness of the author's illustrations alone 
suffices to make the book somewhat of a curiosity. 

This is the case, too, with the "Journal written on 
board of His Majesty's ship Cambridge, by the Rev. H. S., 
Chaplain." It is true that the illustration here is con- 
fined to a colored frontispiece — but the lady of Peru 
which it depicts could scarcely be taken seriously any- 
where outside a nightmare. This does not, however, in 
the least detract from the value of the book, which gives 
an accurate, full, and interesting picture of the life and 
personalities of the Chilean and Peruvian coasts of that 
period. Moreover, the Rev. H. S., a most broad-minded 
chaplain, had a liberal education in the South American 
personalities of that period, for he not only met Bolivar, 
Bernardo 'Higgins, and others, but 'Higgins ' mother, 
a lady of considerable romance and mystery, whom he de- 
scribes as a "pleasant, lively old woman." 

In the 1820 's many fine aquatints of South America 
were included in the publications of Buenos Aires and 
of Monte Video" (1820) — a work sufficiently well known 
among connoisseurs — contains twenty-four fine specimens 
of aquatints. 

But the wonderfully picturesque landscape of Brazil 
naturally adapted itself more satisfactorily to this type of 
illustration, and two years later (1822) was published one 
of the finest collections of colored aquatints that South 
America has known. Sir Henry Chamberlain's "Views 
and Costumes of the City and Neighbourhood of Rio de 



450 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Janeiro, from drawings taken by Lieut. Chamberlain, 
Royal Artillery, 1819-20/' 

At one time a copy of this very rare book was in the 
possession of the author of the present work. 

After this we may proceed for a time more or less in 
chronological sequence, leaving the geographical order of 
the works to look after itself. The first four books con- 
cern the Northern republics. 

In 1820 George L. Chesterton wrote the ** Narrative of 
proceedings in Venezuela, in South America, in 1819 and 
1820, with General Observations on the Country and Peo- 
ple." 

Eight years later was published a work of rather un- 
usual interest: *' Recollections of a service of three years 
during the War of Extermination in the Republics of 
Venezuela and Colombia. By an officer of the Colombian 
Navy." 

The author of this was an English naval officer, who 
took service with the South Americans, and who took part 
in sufficient fighting, both on water and land, to gratify 
the taste of the firiest of fire-eaters ! As a matter of fact, 
no one can have had a much wider experience of this pe- 
culiarly merciless campaign than this anonymous author. 
The part he played was not confined to such stirring in- 
cidents as the gunboat battles on the Northern rivers, and 
such charges as that at the battle of Carabobo. Having 
fallen into the hands of the Spaniards, he, heavily chained, 
was about to pay the usual penalty of death when he was 
assisted to escape by a certain 'Regan, a Spanish officer 
of Irish descent. After this he suffered imprisonment at 
the hands of his own superior officer, Barino, a depraved 
patriot-leader, whose spite was curbed by the subsequent 
court martial, which immediately acquitted the English- 
man. 

Undoubtedly the writer gives his impressions under the 
stress of not a little inevitable feeling, and, owing to this, 
portions of the book must be received with some reserve. 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 451 

A friend and admirer of several officers displaced by 
Bolivar, he shows himself — ^however unconscious he 
may have been of the fact — somewhat antagonistically dis- 
posed towards the Liberator. Hence the pictures we re- 
ceive from him of Bolivar do not err on the flattering 
side. Here is the account of his first presentation to the 
great South American: 

*'At the door of the apartment, which stood partly 
open, were two English soldiers, who were fixed there as 
sentinels, to prevent any unseasonable interruption upon 
his excellency ; and Captain Mardyn having retired, I de- 
sired one of them to announce to Bolivar the arrival of a 
British officer with despatches from the Venezuelan Con- 
gress. He did so, and returned with an order for my 
immediate entrance. I went into the room, which was 
large, but dirty, and scantily provided with furniture. At 
the further end sat Colonel O'Leary, then one of his ex- 
cellency's secretaries, on the ground, with a small writ- 
ing-desk in his lap, writing despatches of a military na- 
ture, at the dictation of Bolivar, who, at the other end of 
the room, was sitting on the edge of a large South Amer- 
ican cot slung from the ceiling. To avoid the inconveni- 
ence of the heat, he was quite unencumbered with apparel 
or covering of any description, and was swinging himself 
violently by means of a coquita rope, attached to a hook 
driven into the opposite wall for the purpose. Thus 
curiously situated, he alternately dictated to O'Leary 
and whistled a French republican tune, to which he beat 
time by knocking his feet laterally ... he instantly 
sprang from the cot and proceeded to embrace me, ac- 
cording to the custom of the country, by enclosing me in 
his arms and kissing my cheek. Such a proof of regard 
not being very congenial with my feelings, more particu- 
larly when offered by a person in a total state of nudity, 
I declined it in no very gentle manner; upon which he 
looked as though somewhat displeased, and turned toward 
his secretary with evident marks of astonishment. The 



452 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Colonel, who entered into my feelings at once, represented 
to him that such a custom was foreign to his countrymen, 
and hoped, therefore, that he would pardon the ungentle 
repulse I had given him. His Excellency smiled, and ex- 
tended to me his hand with an air of the warmest cor- 
diality, which mark of condescension I respectfully ac- 
knowledged, and he returned to his cot to finish the de- 
spatches, while I smoked a cigar." 

It is a curious glimpse of Bolivar, this — as unexpected 
as many of the author's comments on his brother officers, 
British or South American, concerning which the reader 
is occasionally left in doubt as to whether their accuracy 
rivals their frankness! At the same time, it is clear 
enough that the impressions are honestly given. 

Captain Charles Stuart Cochrane 's ''Journal of a resi- 
dence and travels in Colombia during the years 1823 and 
1824" must not be judged by its colored frontispiece. 
This depicts our author, who was a gallant British naval 
officer, in Colombian costume leaning on his steed, whether 
mule or ass, whose wither does not reach to Captain Coch- 
rane 's thigh. The art of the early nineteenth century is 
not that of to-day, and an uninitiated and disinterested 
modern spectator might well suspect a touch of humor in 
the conception — and especially in the expression of the 
steed — which was never in the remotest degree intended. 

Captain Cochrane visited Colombia just when the War 
of Independence was drawing to a victorious conclusion. 
He saw, therefore, much of the new South American so- 
ciety which was in the course of formation, and his book 
is a mine of information on the customs and entertain- 
ments of the period. Many of his descriptions are of 
high interest. Here, for instance is his account of a 
national fandango : 

"This dance is intended as a dumb representation of 
courtship. The music begins at first slow and monoto- 
nous, but gradually increases from andante to allegro. 
The gentleman commences by pursuing the lady quietly 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 453 

and gently, and the lady retreats in like manner, making 
short circles, and turning on her heel at each time that 
her partner approaches, quickening her step and revolu- 
tions as the time of the music increases, until she per- 
ceives that he seems inclined to give up the pursuit; 
repentance follows, and the pursuer is in his turn pur- 
sued, making similar retreats, and the same circumvolu- 
tions that the lady so recently practised, until at last, re- 
lenting, he turns to meet her, and they approach each 
other more closely, and being apparently reconciled, make 
three or four peculiar stamps with their feet, bow to 
each other, and retire, tolerably exhausted, amidst the ac- 
clamations of the by-standers, to make way for another 
couple. ' ' 

It was in these Northern and tropical regions of the 
continent, of course, that the local color was inclined to 
be not only most brilliant, but most bizarre. This will be 
obvious enough from Captain Cochrane 's description of 
the Cock Mass, which is worthy of reproduction in full: 

''At midnight a curious custom of the Roman Catholic 
Church was performed, called the Cock Mass, in com- 
memoration of the crowing of the cock which took place 
on Peter 's denial of Christ. When the curate commences 
the service, the people imitate and mock his gesture, tone 
of voice, and manner of reading ; make all kinds of noise 
— shouting, bawling, hooting, and imitating the crowing 
of the cock, with every possible exertion of lungs; the 
whole forming an exhibition most deafening to the ear, 
and perfectly ridiculous to the eye. There is another 
church service, quite as ludicrous and preposterous, on 
the day of celebrating the Rending of the Veil of the 
Temple, when our Saviour gave up the ghost. The peo- 
ple have large hammers, with which they beat the benches, 
and have sheets of tin, etc., which they shake, to imitate 
the noise of thunder as nearly as possible. An English 
colonel, in the republican service, on this occasion thought 
he could add to the scene, by imitating the English fox- 



454 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

hunter's tallyho, which he did with so much strength and 
clearness of lungs, as quite to excel any noise of other 
persons; and gained by it so much of the curate's good 
will, who imagined that his religion was in proportion to 
the vehemence of his utterance, that after the service he 
came to him, and seizing his hand, thanked him most 
cordially for his kind addition to the devotion of the 
night. ' * 

In 1827 appeared * ' The Present State of Colombia : con- 
taining an account of the Principal Events of its Revolu- 
tionary War, the Expeditions fitted out in England to 
assist in its Emancipation, by an officer," and various 
other works concerning Colombia appeared at this period. 

It was, by the way, two years previously to this that 
Charles Waterton published his famous ''Wanderings in 
South America," a work which has already been fully 
dealt with in these pages. The same applies to Charles 
Darwin's ''Voyage of a Naturalist," published in 1840, 
fifteen years later. 

In 1829 Lieutenant H. Lister Maw, R. N., who, by the 
way, was the first Englishman to descend the Amazon, 
published his "Journal of a Passage from the Pacific to 
the Atlantic, crossing the Andes in the Northern Prov- 
inces of Peru, and descending the River Maragnon or 
Amazon. ' ' 

In 1834 Dr. W. H. B. Webster published the "Narrative 
of a Voyage to the Southern Atlantic Ocean . . . per- 
formed in H.M. Sloop Chanticleer, under the command of 
the late Captain Henry Forster, F.R.S., etc." The sub- 
ject of this has already been dealt with. 

Two years later appeared the "Diary of the Wreck 
of the H.M. Ship Challenger on the Western Coast of 
South America, in May, 1835, with an account of the sub- 
sequent Encampment of the Officer and Crew, during a 
period of Seven Weeks on the South Coast of Chili." 

In 1835 was produced another interesting work, of 
wider scope, "Three years in the Pacific, containing no- 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 455 

tices of Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, etc., in 1831, 1832, 
1833, 1834, by an Officer in the United States Navy." 

In 1836 John Armitage published an important histor- 
ical work, that still remains as a standard book of refer- 
ence, the ''History of Brazil, from the period of the ar- 
rival of the Braganza family in 1808, to the abdication of 
Don Pedro the First in. 1831, compiled from State Docu- 
ments, and other Original Sources, forming a continua- 
tion to Southey's History of that Country." 

Two years later John Hawkshaw added to the compara- 
tively slender stock of literature on the Northern half 
of the continent by *' Reminiscences of South America, 
from Two and a Half Years' Residence in Venezuela." 

In 1838 the Hon. P. C. Scarlett published a book on a 
road which was now becoming fairly well trodden: 
"South America and the Pacific, comprising a Journey 
across the Pampas and the Andes, from Buenos Aires to 
Valparaiso, Lima, and Panama." 

The following year Sir Woodbine Parish produced a 
work on ''Buenos Aires and the Provinces of the Rio de 
la Plata," of considerable intrinsic merit and interest. 
The views, however, on the politics and development of 
the river Plate Provinces expressed in this have met with 
considerable criticism from later writers. 

In 1841 Captain Allen F. Gardiner, R.N., published *'A 
Visit to the Indians on the Frontiers of Chili," a work 
which deals with the possibilities of missionary effort 
among the Araucanian Indians of Southern Chile. It 
was this book, by the way, which helped toward the forma- 
tion of the Patagonian Missionary Society, from which 
sprang the present South American Missionary Society. 
The closing chapter of the mission of Captain Allen Gar- 
diner and the story of his death are given in a little book 
entitled ' ' The Giants of Patagonia, ' ' produced by Captain 
Browne in 1853. 

In 1842 was published a large and most thorough mono- 
graph: the "Description of the Skeleton of an extinct 



456 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Gigantic Sloth," by Richard Owen, F.R.S. This giant 
sloth was found some seven leagues to the north of the 
city of Buenos Aires. The work deals with it in the 
most important and conscientious fashion, some of the 
folding illustrations being of a size sufficiently immense 
to content the pride of the shade even of a gigantic sloth ! 

The following year J. P. and W. P. Robertson gave out 
*' Letters on South America, comprising Travels on the 
Banks of the Parana and Rio de la Plata. ' ' 

In 1843 George Jones, M.R.S.L, F.S.V., published **The 
History of Ancient America . . . proving the identity 
of the aborigines with the Tyreans and Israelites ; and the 
introduction of Christianity into the Western Hemisphere 
by the Apostle St. Thomas." This ambitious work has a 
correspondingly ambitious frontispiece, representing the 
bust of the author, classically carved and with shoulders 
draped with a classic toga. The first volume was dedi- 
cated to Frederick William the Fourth, King of Prussia, 
''with feelings of enthusiasm." And the author contin- 
ues: "If, in the following pages, your Majesty should 
recognize Your own portraiture in that of Hiram the 
Great, it is such as truth and history have designed and 
coloured ; — fawning flattery and false adulation have not 
added even a thought to embellish, where Patriotism has 
so nobly consolidated"! 

Then came the question of the second volume ! 

Its dedication is on a par with the rest. From this it 
appears that *'An Illustrious Prince" was first chosen for 
the distinction. But this Prince, inclined to hedge 
waived his right suggesting instead ' ' some Theologian of 
high rank among the sacred Profession, and eminent for 
Learning and Piety." This person, concluded George 
Jones, could be no other than the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, and in three sentences — ^which occupy two pages — 
he lays his work at the prelate 's feet. 

Is it necessary to say more? George Jones was a 
crank, and his book is that of a crank ! Yet some of its 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 457 

matter has been quoted by some later authors whose work 
was not without weight. 

In order to find a companion-volume for this last I 
will drag from its proper chronological place another 
book which I imagine — though I have not had the advan- 
tage of reading it — ^may be safely introduced into the 
crank section, if by no other virtue than that of its il- 
luminating title, which is *' Researches into the Lost His- 
tories of America, or the Zodiac shown to be an old Ter- 
restrial Map in which the Atlantic Isle is delineated, so 
that light can be thrown upon the obscure Histories of the 
Earthworks and Ruined Cities of America." This work, 
published in 1883, is, I believe, eloquent of the alleged 
demons of South America, and is from the pen of Mr. W. 
S. Blacket. 

In 1846, when the power of the Argentine Dictator 
Rosas was at its height. Colonel J. A. King gave to the 
world : * ' Twenty-four years in the Argentine Republic, 
embracing the author's personal adventures with the 
Civil and Military History of the Country, and an account 
of its political Condition, before and during the Adminis- 
tration of Governor Rosas," etc. Let it be said of this 
book that it is as wild as were the times it was written in 
— and, in many pages, a good deal wilder ! But much of 
the local color is undoubtedly accurate, and all that is 
necessary is a grain or two of salt to apply to the adven- 
ture portion of the book ! 

How thoroughly General Rosas understood the art of 
propaganda may be gathered from an inspired small book 
published in 1844: ''Buenos Aires-Monte Video and 
Affairs in the River Plate." This is in the form of a 
letter to the Earl of Aberdeen by a Mr. Alfred Mallalieu, 
and constitutes a spirited defense of Rosas' methods of 
government and political outlook. 

Three years later the American historian W. H. Pres- 
cott published his "History of the Conquest of Peru"; a 
famous work, and a classic, which, of course, needs no de- 



458 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

scription here, beyond the remark that it has familiarized 
the English-speaking public to a quite unhoped-for extent 
with the affairs of the ancient Inca race, as well as with 
those of the Spanish conquistadors, and with the amazing 
personality of the greatest of them all — Pizarro, the one- 
time swineherd, who carved out his own vice-royalty, and 
who reigned there as an actual king ! 

Among the works on Brazil about this period are: 
George Gardner's ''Travels in the Interior of Brazil, prin- 
cipally through the Northern Provinces, and the Gold and 
Diamond Districts, during the years 183&-41" (1846); 
W. H. Edwards' ** Voyages up the Eiver Amazon, in- 
cluding a Residence at Para" (1847), and R. Dundas' 
''Sketches of Brazil, including new views on Tropical 
and European Fever" (1852). 

In 1848 Commander Mackinnon published his "Steam 
Warfare in the Parana, a narartive of operations by the 
combined squadrons of England and France in forcing a 
passage up that River." 

In 1848-52 Sir Arthur Helps published his ' ' Conquer- 
ors of the New World, ' ' a sufficiently notable production, 
although not of the importance of ' ' The Spanish Conquest 
of America" (1855), or the "Life of Columbus" by the 
same author. 

In 1852, Sir William Gore Ousley published his "Views 
in South America from original drawings made in Brazil, 
the River Plate, the Parana, etc." These views appear 
to have attained to a sufficiently wide popularity, and we 
find them employed for the illustration of several later 
volumes by other authors. 

Of the naturalists who have been referred to in a previ- 
ous chapter Alfred R. Wallace published his "Narrative 
of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro" in 1853, while 
Bates gave out his "Naturalist on the River Amazons" 
ten years later. Of a third naturalist, Richard Spruce, 
who has already been referred to, it may be repeated that 
his various notes, letters, and minor works were only 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 459 

published in complete volume form in 1908, when they 
were edited by Wallace. There is one paragraph from 
these writings of Spruce which may very well be included 
here, since it illustrates rather curiously the mid-nine- 
teenth century literary taste in some of the remoter parts 
of Venezuela : 

"When I reached San Carlos in Venezuela the only 
books in the Spanish language existing there were *E1 
Sepulcro, por Anna Radcliffe,' and a translation of one 
of the Duchesse d'Abrantes' novels. They are scarcely 
more numerous at Tarapoto, where one of the most fa- 
mous books is 'Waverley o' ahora sesenta anos, por Sir 
Gualterio Scott. ' In short, so far as I can judge of South 
America from having seen only the most thinly inhabited 
portions of it, I can truly say that Mrs. Eadcliffe, Walter 
Scott, and Alexandre Dumas are far more popular there 
than Cervantes and Camoens. To the credit of the Bra- 
zilians, they are far more familiar with the 'Lusiads' than 
the Spanish Americans are with 'Don Quixote.' " 

The same year was published W. MacCann's "Two 
Thousand Miles' Ride through the Argentine Provinces," 
one of the most interesting books of its kind on the pampa. 

A work notable for its botanical as well as for its gen- 
eral information was produced in 1853 by Dr. George 
Gardiner, superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens, 
Ceylon: ''Travels in the Interior of Brazil; principally 
through the Northern Provinces, and the Gold and Dia- 
mond Districts, during the years 1836-41." 

Even less known country was touched on in 1854 by 
L. H. de Bonelli, secretary to the British legation in Bo- 
livia, in "Travels in Bolivia, with a tour across the 
Pampas to Buenos Aires, etc." 

In the same year William Hadfield, who had resided 
for several years in Brazil, published a work, "Brazil, 
the River Plate, and the Falkland Islands." The in- 
formation he gives concerning Brazil is copious and valu- 
able, and — although here his status was only that of a 



460 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

traveler — he has much to say on the river Plate countries 
that is well worth perusal. Many pages concern them- 
selves closely with the personalities and parties of the 
great Argentine dictator Rosas and his one-time adjutant 
and subsequent rival Urquiza. Hadfield's book appears 
to have attracted considerable attention at the time, and 
was widely quoted by many of the following writers on 
the river Plate countries. But this is undoubtedly as 
much due to the moment at which the work appeared as to 
its intrinsic merit. Its publication, just after the fall of 
Rosas, coincided with the ushering in of the new liberal 
epoch of the river Plate. 

The following year a certain recrudescence in the pub- 
lic interest in bucaneer affairs was assisted by Mr. G. W. 
Thornbury's ''The Monarchs of the Main; or, Adven- 
tures of the Buccaneers." 

*' South American Sketches, or a visit to Rio Janeiro, 
the Organ Mountains, La Plata, and the Parana," is the 
title of a book produced in 1863 by Mr. T. W. Hinchliff. 
Beyond the intrinsic interest of its subject, this work is 
notable for a merit which is wont to be lacking in so many 
books of travel — a literary excellence which makes it most 
admirable reading. The cheery touch of this author may 
be exampled in passages such as the one describing a 
shooting expedition on the Uruguay River : ' ' Sometimes 
a strong whirr told us that a partridge had taken to the 
wood, and betrayed the course of his flight ; sometimes a 
sharp flapping overhead warned us that wood-pigeons 
were hovering about the tops of the trees ; and sometimes 
a clatter like that of angry Irishwomen in an alley an- 
nounced the immediate neighborhood of a flock of par- 
rots. All these in turn fell victims, and were most 
sweetly and harmoniously combined into a mighty pie, the 
flavour of which I shall never forget, and which I can 
confidently recommend to any one starting for the pas- 
tures of the Uruguay." 

And then there was that gigantic toad that was pre- 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 461 

sented to a friend of Hinchliff's in Brazil: the creature 
that was as big as a hat, and that sat in front of its 
alarmed owner, and '^ opened its mouth like an oyster, 
barked like a dog, and flew at his legs ! ' ' 

It does not require the incentive of a direct interest in 
South America to appreciate such touches as these ! 

One of the most important British books of the mid- 
nineteenth century was written by Mr. C. B. Mansfield 
who visited South America in 1852-53. Less than two 
years after his return from the Southern continent, Mans- 
field met with an accident which caused his death, and 
the MS. of his work, *' Paraguay, Brazil, and the Plate," 
was left incomplete in some respects. 

Charles Kingsley, a friend and keen admirer of Mans- 
field's, has added a biographical and appreciative note to 
the posthumous volume, which ends with the invocation: 
*'0h, fairest of souls! Happy those who knew thee in 
this life ! Happier those who will know thee in the life to 
come ! ' ' 

Charles Kingsley was no careless squanderer of en- 
thusiasm, and its subject seems to have been amply 
worthy of these exclamations. ''From Winchester," 
says Kingsley, ''he went to Cambridge; and none who 
knew him there but must recollect with pleasure his 
graceful figure, slight and delicate, yet trained to all ath- 
letic sports, and of an activity almost incredible; his 
forehead full and high, and yet most bland ; his fair locks ; 
his finely-cut features, most gentle and most pure; his 
eyes beaming with thought, honesty, humor, and a super- 
abundance of genial life, such as I who write have never 
beheld in any other man. ' ' 

High praise, this, from the man whose "Westward 
Ho" and "Hypatia" were the fruits of only a measure of 
his various powers ! 

Charles Mansfield, a remarkable man, visited South 
America at a remarkable period. From the time of Wil- 
liam Hawkins to the present day very few British have 



462 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

gone out to South America for the purpose of philosophiz- 
ing. But Mansfield went for no other reason. The in- 
land State of Paraguay was his chief objective, for the 
mystery of isolation had appealed strongly to his im- 
agination. He was determined to make an attempt to 
see the strange land with his own eyes, and to probe into 
the whys and wherefores of the country that was com- 
monly known at the time as the ' ' Inland Japan. ' ' What 
a different impression would this simile render if it were 
coined afresh to-day ! 

Now, judged superficially, Mansfield would have seemed 
the last man to hobnob successfully with the rank and 
file of the South Americans of that period. He was what 
is popularly known as a ''character." He detested all 
tobacco smoke, abominated the idea of eating animal flesh, 
was rather deaf, and held strong views on the economy of 
labor, honoring as he did the producer and utterly de- 
spising the trader. He was an ardent believer in the 
mission of the British race, and occasionally loved to 
burst into a song of prophecy that was a curious mixture 
of ecstasy and sound common sense. In addition to all 
this he was one of the most promising young chemists in 
England, and his book exhibits most generously that flow 
of humor to which Kingsley alludes. 

Mansfield was peculiarly susceptible to the beauty of 
landscape, and these are his exclamations on first setting 
foot in Brazil: ''What a Paradise is, or at least might 
be, this country if it were possessed by the English. I 
do not feel at all sure that I am not dead, and have not 
recommenced another life. . . . The beauty is almost be- 
wildering. The glorious cocoa-nut trees, bananas, and 
several kinds of palms, breadfruit, etc., etc., and the mag- 
nificent green oranges. ... I am too giddy to write so- 
berly about anything. I feel inclined to cut capers under 
the trees till I am tired, then sigh like a hippopotamus 
for some one to pour it all out upon, and then lie down 
and dream. ' ' 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 463 

Mansfield's relations with the very varied types of 
humanity with whom he was brought into contact seem to 
have been most cordial. He stayed among the Fazen- 
deiros of Brazil — the owners of slaves and sugar and 
coffee and cotton lands, — with their flowered cotton 
jackets and bediamonded hands, and pronounced them 
trumps. Arrived in the river Plate, armed with a letter 
of introduction from Admiral Grenfell, he went to see 
Urquiza, the all-powerful Protector of the river Plate 
Provinces of that period, and after contrasting with some 
dismay his own ancient garments with the smart clothes 
of those who now surrounded him, he found himself in 
the presence of '*a very respectable English farmer-like, 
honest-looking man, in a neat blue uniform coat and white 
waistcoat, with a lot of officials and applicants sitting or 
standing in a row at the side." Urquiza received Mans- 
field most politely, and, having been granted the freedom 
of the great Argentine rivers, Mansfield bowed himself 
out, ''thinking him really a hero and a trump." 

At the same time it must be said that Mansfield's first 
impressions of the town of Buenos Aires were far frOm 
favorable. The hand of man had not yet embellished the 
alluvial flats of its site, and the numbers of decaying 
carcasses of cattle which then littered the outskirts of the 
city were especially offensive to so ardent a respecter 
of animal life as Mansfield. 

Indeed, existence for so enthusiastic a vegetarian must 
have presented a good many problems in a land where 
the phenomenal superabundance of butcher's meat caused 
the cultivation of vegetables to be almost entirely 
neglected. But no circumstances of mere physical dis- 
comfort could disturb his equanimity, and it was with his 
unfailing serenity that he started in a small sailing vessel 
up the Parana Eiver on the first stage of his inland voy- 
age to Paraguay. 

The moment was a notable one in the history of Para- 
guay. Carlos Lopez, the dictator of the inland republic. 



464. BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

was about to suffer the veil to be torn from its frontiers. 
Foreigners were at length to be permitted to tread its 
long-secluded and mysterious soil. Sir Charles Hotham, 
the British special envoy, and his French colleague were 
about to steam up the rivers to Paraguay in their re- 
spective war vessels in order to conclude treaties with 
the Government of the hermit state. So Mansfield un- 
dertook his journey in high hopes of being one of the 
favored first to see with their own eyes the workings of 
this beautiful land of seclusion and rumor. 

The journey to Corrientes, the northernmost port of 
Argentina, where the rivers Paraguay and Parana join 
their waters, took a month, during which time Mansfield 
fed himself chiefly on ship's biscuits and raisins, dived 
overboard every morning for his swim, notwithstanding 
the fierce current which occasionally ran, and observed 
all things with an unfailing acuteness, from the people, 
landscape, birds, beasts, and fishes to the bottles of Bass 's 
pale ale and the rolls of Manchester cottons which already 
lay by the side of the local brown sugar and yerha mate 
in the recently erected stores on the river bank. He was 
a keenly interested spectator, too, of the games of pelota 
— the river Plate fives, and considered that **a Gaucho 
boy or two, turned loose on ball court at Winton, would 
astonish a Wykehamist a little." 

At Corrientes occurred a very long halt, while President 
Lopez's permission to enter Paraguay was awaited. 
This period Mansfield occupied in studying the natural 
history and botany of the district, and in gazing across 
the great river, speculating on the inherent possibilities 
of the forests and swamps of the opposite Chaco bank 
which the dread of the untamed Indians — though numbers 
of these latter frequently visited Corrientes — kept so en- 
tirely shut off from the white man that the mile or so of 
stream which flowed between the two might well have 
been a thousand! 

The long period of suspense would have been weari- 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 465 

some enough for most people; but Mansfield's enthusiasm 
was sufficient to provide him with joys of his own, as will 
be evident from the note that rings in his meeting with 
the giant crane, when he saw : 

* ' The most magnificent bird I ever beheld : he must be 
the king that was sent down from heaven to meet the 
demands of the frogs — a perfect emperor of cranes. I 
had just been watching a big heron, when I caught sight 
of this fellow. At first I thought he was a cow, and then 
that he was a man ; at last I perceived that his gait was 
far too stately for any biped but a bird, and he let me 
come as close to him as the length of an ordinary room ; 
and he was all snow-white, except his beak and his head 
and his neck, between the black and white, which was deep 
red; and his beak was ponderous, like unto a pelican's, 
and full a foot long, with a heavy lower jaw. He must 
have stood five feet high without his boots, and he let me 
look at him ever so long, and he stalked about quite 
promiscuous; and there was close to him a big white 
heron, that looked quite small ; and as I sat and wondered, 
he spread his wings, all snow-white, and sailed straight 
away down south for miles and miles, till the speck of 
white in the sky was too small to see." 

In passages such as these Mansfield is an awkward 
man to quote from, since the difficulty arises in knowing 
where to stop. 

Mansfield had planned to enter Paraguay with two 
friends of his, a French diplomat and his wife, and even 
after permission had been received from Lopez the vaga- 
ries of these excellent but irresponsible people increased 
the delay. At length he received an intimation that his 
companions would start immediately. Mansfield explains 
that he did not believe it in the least, but was bound to 
act as if he did ! However on this occasion the alarm was 
no false one, and presently the party had set out on horse- 
back on its way to Paraguay. 

Mansfield's description of his costume is instructive in 



466 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

itself. Among his garments was a white cotton poncho, 
Manchester made, but Corrientes bought; Gaucho belt 
containing Spanish doubloons ; magnificent silvery spurs, 
Buenos Aires bought but Birmingham made, a water- 
proof Eio-de- Janeiro bought, London made; and then 
there was his recado, his Gaucho saddle of horse-cloths, 
hides, and sheep-fleece — *'a thing like the back of a huge 
caterpillar, suddenly petrified into an enquiring atti- 
tude." 

So they set off, across the fair prairies, woodlands and 
marshes of Corrientes, poor Mansfield bearing the burden 
of Madame 's parrot in its cage, that had been transferred 
to his uncomplaining arms by the somewhat imperious 
lady ! Indeed, reading between the lines, there seems no 
doubt that Mansfield's kindly personality was made the 
fullest use of by Madame G., as well as by her stout hus- 
band, who always wore a little sword by his side, and 
whom Mansfield "admired with a great reverence" when 
he set his horse into a very slow canter. 

At length the party arrived at the bank of the Alto 
Parana River, on the further side of which lay the long- 
shrouded country of Paraguay. Scarcely had they made 
their appearance there when from a little fort on the 
Paraguayan shore a canoe was paddled lustily across by 
seven splendid specimens of manhood, some of which were 
quite fair, and not one of whom bore the slightest trace 
of Indian blood. The men, says Mansfield, were utterly 
unlike any others he had previously seen in South Amer- 
ica. Paraguay had provided its first surprise ! 

After this they were ferried across in grand style, and 
the secret of their prompt reception was now made evi- 
dent. High up in the branches of a tree was a look-out 
post from which a lad was watching continually. 
"And," says Mansfield, "I presume he is there still. 
This is a part of the rigid system of vigilance by which 
all intruders have been kept off the coasts of the inland 
Japan." 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 467 

The Pa^raguayan Government, having admitted Mans- 
field and his friends, did the thing handsomely, and 
treated them as its guests, itself providing the horses and 
men necessary for each stage of the journey to Asuncion, 
the capital. It was a queer world in which the newcomers 
found themselves. The idyllic landscape was populated 
for the most part by soldiers in very smart and service- 
able uniforms, but barefooted, the majority of the officers 
being likewise unshod — a fashion which has always been 
popular in Paraguay as much from motives of choice as 
from those of economy. 

Some regiments, remarks our author, of these men — 
for the most part unusually fair-skinned — ^wore trousers, 
others the Gaucho Calzoncillos and Chiripas. But when 
off duty they strolled to and fro almost in a state of 
nudity. 

Mansfield was much struck by the law and order, neat- 
ness and cleanliness that, under the despotism of the 
elder Lopez, prevailed in Paraguay at that period. It 
was with amazement that he contrasted these advantages 
of that very remote state with the contemporary slovenli- 
ness and neglect that was all too evident in Northern Ar- 
gentina. In the long interval which has elapsed since 
Mansfield's visit these circumstances have tended to re- 
verse themselves. This would seem to prove that, al- 
though autocracy may provide a short cut to law and 
order, the awkward and slow-grinding wheels of democ- 
racy do their task more thoroughly in the long run ! 

Some idea of the manner in which matters were carried 
on in the hermit kingdom of Paraguay may be gleaned 
from the method by which a large lawn in the neighbor- 
hood of the military headquarters of this frontier post 
was kept spotlessly tidy. Five hundred men, explains 
Mansfield, under charge of their officers were marched out 
to pick up with their fingers every spot of dirt and every 
sign of weed, and the gleanings were borne off on hides 
stretched on poles, each carried by four men ! 



468 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Mansfield's first night in Paraguay was in its way as 
stirring as anything he could ever have pictured ! Every 
half -hour the loud challenges of the sentinels rang round 
the camp, and at two o'clock in the morning a powerful 
military band shattered the balmy night air by a lengthy 
outpouring of stirring airs. Now — although Mansfield 
does not appear to have been aware of it — this seems to 
me without doubt to have been a survival of the old 
Paraguayan Jesuit Mission days, when drums and fifes 
used to parade through the settlements at night for a 
purpose which any one who cares to study the early 
Jesuit authors may learn for themselves. 

In sylvan Paraguay, where cattle were less ubiquitous 
than in the Southern prairies, and where mandioca and 
tropical fruits and vegetables abounded, Mansfield's daily 
bill of fare became comparatively sumptuous. Maintain- 
ing the unbroken cordiality of his relations with the vari- 
ous officials and others with whom he came into contact, 
he, accompanied by his French friends, completed the 
journey to Asuncion almost without incident. On his 
arrival there he found that the first foreign trading 
steamer to enter the port had dropped anchor on the 
previous day ! 

In Asuncion, Mansfield continued to wonder at the pro- 
portion of fair-haired and fair-skinned people, notwith- 
standing the fact that the Guarani Indian strain largely 
predominated in the population and that the Guarani 
tongue was the general speech of the country. 

Mansfield settled himself down with his rare and en- 
thusiastic intelligence to study the curious and romantic 
capital, its surroundings, inhabitants, and the intricacies 
of the Guarani tongue. Soon after his arrival H.M.S. 
Locust steamed up, and Sir Charles Hotham, the British 
envoy, landed in order to recognize officially on the part 
of his Government the independence of Paraguay, and to 
draw up a treaty of commerce between that nation and 
Great Britain. 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 469 

Mansfield had already been introduced to the family of 
Carlos Lopez, the dictator of Paraguay, and among the 
rest had met young Francisco Solano Lopez, who some 
fifteen years later was destined to plunge central South 
America into an ocean of blood. His description of the 
ball given by Hotham in honor of the diplomatic occasion 
— a function at which those humble folk who were not ad- 
mitted congregated outside, and thrust their naked legs 
into the ballroom through the bars of the windows, hold- 
ing on to the upper part with their arms — is worth giving 
in full: 

''I was riding along the street yesterday, near the 
square in which the government buildings are, and heard 
a precious firing of rockets and viva-mg. Behold ! The 
people were carrying the portrait of the President from 
the Cabildo to the ballroom; the noise was adulation of 
the effigy. Li the evening he came to the ball ; he arrived 
a few minutes before I did, so I lost the sight of his 
entry ; when I came he was sitting in an armchair at the 
end of the room in a magnificent uniform, with a huge 
gold-headed cane in his hand : there he sat for about two 
hours, the most perfect picture of pompous good humor ; 
on his right sat his wife, like any queen. I did not notice 
a single Paraguayan except his wife and his son (a young 
lad of twenty or so, the general of the army) go near him. 
The representatives of the foreign powers that are here 
went up and saluted him as they came in ; he stood up to 
shake hands with Sir C. Hotham, an honor which he also 
accorded to the Brazilian minister, but to no one else. I 
went up with two other Englishmen and made obeisance 
to him, at which he looked highly pleased ; I do not think 
any one else went near. Two gentlemen, Argentines, ac- 
tually danced a solo before him, intended for and called 
an English hornpipe. At last, about ten p.m. (the ball 
was opened at eight, by his son dancing with his daugh- 
ter) he rose and walked out of the room, amidst the ob- 
sequious bows of some and the retreating of others ; and 



470 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

as he departed under shouts of 'Viva la Republican del 
Paraguay!' 'Viva el excelentisimo Senor Presidentel' 
the stiffness suddenly relaxed, a hum of talk pervaded 
the room, the good-natured Presidente burst into a bland 
smile and swept into the seat just vacated by her husband, 
and there she sat without moving, except once to go and 
take refreshments, till the end." 

Half a century and more ago a president of Paraguay 
was worth an emperor of decadent Eome and a Chinese 
mandarin put together! 

But we have no space to follow Mansfield and his de- 
lightful reflections any longer. They are plain enough to 
read in his book, which is just over sixty years old. 
Moved by a sudden impulse, he determined to return to 
England, so he took a cordial farewell of President Lopez, 
and made a bargain for his voyage downstream with a 
ship's captain, who at the time of the compact happened 
to be in the guardhouse with his feet in the stocks — ^no 
uncommon position even for the most blameless and wor- 
thy people in Paraguay of the mid-nineteenth century ! 

Only one incident of Mansfield's downstream voyage 
need be referred to here. Having just left the land 
of a despot in the full flush of his power he was fated 
during his halt of a few hours at the Argentine town 
of Parana to pick up a link with the destiny of another 
autocrat, one who had been banished, and was living in 
retirement in England — Rosas of Argentina. It is only 
a passing remark that Mansfield makes on the subject, but 
to one acquainted with the affairs of Rosas, and his 
charming daughter Dona Manuelita, who is said to have 
exercised so strong an influence over the British minister, 
it is significant enough. The British minister. Captain 
Gore, happened to be on a visit at Parana, and Mansfield 
took the opportunity of calling on him. Just as he was 
embarking again Captain Gore came down to the beach 
on horseback. Would Mansfield call on the Rosas when 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 471 

he got back to England, he asked, and tell Manuelita that 
he had seen him on her horse ? 

Sheer gossip, this, of course. But it is not Mansfield 
himself who tells the tale in gossipy fashion^how could 
he, in the three and a half lines he devotes to the episode? 
— and if any one is to be hauled over the coals for dis- 
seminating mild scandal, it is not Mansfield, with his head 
high up among the incurious stars, but the mundane 
author of these notes ! With this final vindication of his 
character we may take a reluctant leave of Mansfield. 

After this, I fear, unreasonably lengthy devotion of 
space to the affairs of a single author, we must of neces- 
sity return to skimpier notices. 

Just about this period it may be said that there were 
issued a certain number of notable North American pub- 
lications on South America. One of these is a very com- 
prehensive and finely produced work, describing : ' ' The 
United States Naval Astronomical Expedition to the 
Southern Hemisphere, Chile," by Lieutenant J. M. Gil- 
liss, United States Navy, which saw the light in 1856. 

In the same year Thomas Ewbank wrote a full and val- 
uable account of Brazil in its mid-imperial days: ''Life 
in Brazil, or the Land of the Cocoa and the Palm, with an 
Appendix, containing Illustrations of Ancient South 
American Arts," etc. 

The following year was published in Washington by 
0. P. Kidder and J. C. Fletcher a notable book, the title 
of which will speak for itself : ' ' Brazil and the Brazilians, 
portrayed in Historical and Descriptive Sketches. ' ' This 
work, by two very observant North American mission- 
aries, which gave an unusually clear insight into the Bra- 
zilian life of that time, ran into many editions, and I can- 
not be quite positive that the date of the one I have given 
is the first. But in any case the book must be classed as 
one of the fullest and most valuable of those which deal 
with the life and manners of the Brazilian Empire. 



472 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

A third volume which may complete this particular 
series in James WetherelPs ** Stray Notes from Bahia: 
Being Extracts from Letters, etc., during a Residence of 
Fifteen Years." (1860.) 

One of the most valuable contributions of this period 
to the literature on the little-known State of Paraguay 
was the work of an American naval officer, Thomas J. 
Page, who steamed up to Asuncion in his warship, the 
Waterwitch. This very complete study is entitled: **La 
Plata, the Argentine Confederation, and Paraguay." 

In 1859 was published an edition (whether the first or 
not, I am unable to say,) of the great Cochrane 's mem- 
oirs: ** Narrative of Services in the Liberation of Chili, 
Peru, and Brazil, from Spanish and Portuguese Domi- 
nation" (1817-25). 

A volume which contains a rather unusual wealth of 
information is one published by William BoUaert in 1860 : 
*' Antiquarian, Ethnological, and other Researches in 
New Granada, Equador, Peru, and Chile." This book is 
primarily concerned with the etymology, lore, rock-sculp- 
ture, arts, and customs of the Incas and Chibchas. But 
beyond this its unusually wide scope of subjects includes 
a survey of the modern Indian tribes of the north of the 
continent; travels from the northernmost coast to Cape 
Horn and the Magellan Straits, a useful gazetteer of 
many districts, a study of the conditions of mining and 
other industries, and the records of some pioneer survey- 
ing carried out in Tarapaca. 

In the 1860 's, when the commercial possibilities of the 
countries of the river Plate were becoming evident, a con- 
siderable number of volumes were issued on this subject. 

A most prolific writer of this period was Thomas J. 
Hutchinson, who, in his ''Journey through the Salado 
Valley," covers most subjects from farms to fortifica- 
tions, and whose portrait is presented in another of his 
works — "Two Years in Peru" — as an Inca monarch 
crowned with the imperial "llauta" — and this notwith- 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 473 

standing his spreading beard, of which hirsute appendage 
the Incas were entirely innocent ! 

A most instructive volume of this author's, published 
in 1865, is "Buenos Aires and Argentine Gleanings," 
which describes in great, and frequently picturesque, de- 
tail the life, landscape, and industries of Argentina as 
they were at that date. 

Important though this contribution was to the contem- 
porary knowledge of the southeastern portion of the con- 
tinent, it was outweighed in many respects in the follow- 
ing year by Wilfred Latham's ''The States of the Eiver 
Plate." Mr. Latham does not write as a traveler; his 
graphic descriptions are those of a land which he had 
made his home. When he describes the Campo, it is as 
a practical ''camp" man, part of whose every-day life it 
was to ride side by side with the Gauchos. As an expert 
in livestock his book is filled with hints which were of 
great value at the time, and some of which are even now 
not out of date. Time has since proved the soundness 
of Latham's judgment. For instance, although his work 
appeared a considerable while before the days of meat 
freezing or chilling, he clearly foresaw some process of 
the kind, and prophesied the tremendous importance that 
river Plate livestock was destined to assume in the world, 
and the extraordinary movement in the breeds which 
would one day tread the plains. 

Yes, it is obvious to one who peruses Latham's pages 
that the author leans over and speaks from his saddle, 
as it were. But he does more than tell his reader how 
to run a mid-nineteenth century estancia, how to treat 
cattle and sheep, and of what climatic perils and vege- 
table pests to beware. He describes to the life the loves 
and hatreds, sports and duels, the gambling bouts and 
songs, of the Gaucho. 

Now and again he grows chatty and tells an anecdote 
such as the one which he says was current in a certain 
district in Entre Rios. I will give it here : 



474 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

*'A true specimen of the Gaucho par excellence, dis- 
mounting at the hut of a conocedo (acquaintance) found 
him writhing and groaning under the most violent rheu- 
matic pain. The fellow looked commiseratingly on the 
suffering friend, and ejaculating, 'Povrecito, povrecito!' 
(poor fellow, poor fellow!), gently took him by the beard 
with one hand, and coolly drawing his knife with the oth- 
er, passed the sharp edge across his suffering friend's 
throat, and put him out of his misery ; then, commending 
him to the 'Virgen,' took his departure, satisfied with 
having performed a humane act." 

Perhaps it requires one acquainted with the character 
of the now almost extinct Gaucho proper fully to appre- 
ciate this story. 

Latham's account of the scenes which occurred at Bue- 
nos Aires — ^where he happened to be at the time — after 
the fall of the Dictator Rosas, is an invaluable one. He 
explains the part played by the patrols of combined Ar- 
gentines and British in suppressing the temporary disor- 
der which arose, and describes a meeting between one of 
these patrols, of which he formed a member, and a gang 
of brigands. This occurred just outside his own house, 
and at the critical moment Latham was astonished to 
hear the treble shouts of his two very small daughters: 
* ' Shoot 'em dead. Papa — shoot 'em dead ! ' ' 

Finally, when the liberal regime of Argentina set in in 
earnest, Latham appears to have been of real service in 
mediating between the Argentine government and a some- 
what hasty and tactless British consul, as well as assist- 
ing to settle other matters in which the conflicting inter- 
ests of foreigners were concerned. 

To turn to Peru — and back a couple of years — we come 
across a couple of volumes which are sufficiently eloquent 
as to the disturbed condition of the country at the time. 
The first is by Captain Melville White: ''Britons Robbed, 
Tortured, and Murdered in Peru" (1862) ; the second, a 
year later, by Henry de Wolfe Carvell, deals with other 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 475 

outrages, and with the insecurity of British property in 
Peru which prevailed at the time. 

Two years later again was published a very notable 
book by Viscount Bury: ''The Exodus of the Western 
Nations," which illustrates fully and adequately the trend 
of the European toward the southern, as well as the 
northern, part of the Americas. 

One of the grimmest tragedies of South American his- 
tory, the Paraguayan war, was responsible for a certain 
number of books, principally from the pens of those who 
had been caught in the toils of the struggle, and, like the 
Paraguayans themselves, had suffered at the hands of 
the merciless Francisco Solano Lopez. 

Two important volumes of the kind were ' ' Seven Event- 
ful Years in Paraguay," by Gr. F. Masterton, and "The 
Paraguayan War," by George Thompson, both of which 
were published in 1869. Sir Thomas Hutchinson also re- 
fers to this subject in 1868 in his "The Parana; with In- 
cidents of the Paraguayan War and South American 
Eecollections. ' ' 

Sir Richard Burton as a writer on South America, 
comes, of course, within the same group as Southey, Car- 
lyle, and other famous men, whose connection with the 
southern continent was somewhat apart from the main 
trend of their careers. 

Burton's genius, as a matter of fact, seemed to assim- 
ilate less with the verdurous new Western world than 
with the parched and mystic East. In 1869 he published : 
' ' Exploration of the Highlands of Brazil : with a Full Ac- 
count of the Gold and Diamond Mines. Also Canoeing 
down 1500 Miles of the Great River Sao Francisco from 
Sabana to the Sea." This was followed in 1870 by "Let- 
ters from the Battle-Fields of Paraguay." 

Both of these volumes, of course, cannot fail to possess 
a certain interest of their own. Yet it is obvious from 
their pages that the Burton of South America is not the 
Richard Burton, the household word, of the East. At the 



476 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

same time it must be said tliat Burton, when consul at 
Santos, gave some clear indications of the bent which was 
to lead him so far in the Orient in his excellent notes and 
annotations of the translation of Hans Stade 's Captivity, 
published by the Hakluyt Society in 1874. 

From the British point of view, South America has 
lacked its Fenimore Cooper — speaking at hazard, I do 
not think that a writer of the kind exists even in the Cas- 
tilian tongue — ^but the hostile Indian adventures of the 
outlying British settlers in Argentina have been fre- 
quently described by themselves. 

Instances of this are to be met with in such volumes 
as "Pioneering in the Pampas," by Richard Arthur Sey- 
mour, published in 1869, which graphically describe the 
Indian raids on the new estancias, incursions which left 
several British homesteads smoldering and ownerless. 

Before closing the first section of the English litera- 
ture dealing with South America, we must go back a year 
to deal with the translation in 1868 by Mrs. Horace Mann 
of a notable work by a brilliant Argentine author, and a 
prominent personage of that nation, Domingo F. Sar- 
miento: "Life in the Argentine Republic in the Days of 
the Tyrants ; or. Civilization and Barbarism. ' ' The title 
of the book speaks for itself. Its pages, it is true, deal 
with controversial matter, and many of the statements 
are keenly disputed ; but as a study of Argentina in her 
early desperate political throes the work is of absorbing 
interest. 

In this same year was published a book which, although 
interesting and pleasant enough in itself, is so thoroughly 
sketchy and inaccurate in its detail as to recall in parts 
a twentieth century article which a victimized London 
magazine perpetrated on South American affairs, and 
which gravely gave out as endearing terms certain South 
American epithets, which were not only unpolished, but 
quite unspeakable in normal society. 

This racy production is "A Long Vacation in the Ar- 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 477 

gentine Alps," by H. C. Eoss Johnson. In justice to the 
author it must be explained that his solecisms are mostly 
concerned with his rendering of Spanish phrases. But 
in this he is unusually thorough, for it is not every one 
who can misspell four words out of a sentence of five! 
Mr. Johnson shows how efficiently this can be done by 
taking a phrase which he gives in English as, ''Don 
Henry, do you wish coffee?" and by turning it into the 
following alleged Castilian: "Don Enriquez, query U 
caffef" To those ignorant of the mellow Southern 
tongue it may be explained that the first word alone here 
is correctly spelled — and, if one comes to think it over, 
it seems almost impossible to spell "Don" any other way ! 

In view of these peculiarities, it is perhaps fortunate 
that the greater part of the book is in the lighter vein. 
Nevertheless it contains many pages of interest dealing 
with the subtropical Argentine province of Catamarca, 
ground which was at the time very seldom visited by any 
but Argentines, and which, so far as foreigners were 
concerned, was almost unknown. 

When we arrive at modern days there are obviously 
many difficulties which confront the compiler of work 
such as this. The task of choosing the most suitable 
from out of the host of contemporary writers would be a 
thankless one. There are, of course, many names which 
leap to the eye at once — such as Lord Bryce, R. B. Cun- 
ninghame Graham, W. H. Hudson, Sir Martin Conway, 
and the very recently deceased Sir Clements Markham. 
All these are distinguished in other respects beyond their 
writings on South America. But there are many others 
too, some of whose works may, with greater or lesser 
justice, claim to rank in importance somewhere in the 
near neighborhood of those above. 

The only satisfactory way out of the difficulty, it seems 
to me, is to refuse to make a choice at all, and to add to 
this volume an appendix in the shape of a bibliography 
of works on South America from the year 1870 to the 



4T8 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

present day. This I have done, and it only remains to 
hope that the inevitable accidental omissions in such an 
attempt may not be too numerous. 

In this first section dealing with the books on South 
America I will follow the same course as that adopted 
elsewhere in the book, and will keep the publications on 
British Guiana and the Falkland Islands to themselves. 
Dealing as they do with British Possessions, it seems to 
me that they should naturally come within a different 
category to those written by British authors on foreign 
lands. 

The first comparatively modern book of importance to 
be mentioned is "An Essay on the Natural History of 
Guiana, in South America, ' ' which was published in 1769, 
and its author Edward Bancroft deserves a few words 
to himself. Born in Massachusetts in 1744, Bancroft 
took up the study of medicine, and in 1763 he settled in 
Guiana. Later, when war broke out between England 
and her North American colonies, Bancroft acted for 
Franklin as a spy in London, and was suspected of com- 
plicity in the attempt to burn Portsmouth Dockyard. He 
turned king's evidence, however, and does not appear to 
have left England again, dying at Margate in 1821. 

In his book — which contains a general description of 
the natural history, anthropology, and botany of Guiana 
— Bancroft, for an eighteenth century naturalist, is curi- 
ously restrained. If his accuracy may be questioned at 
times, it is never on account of those reckless flights of 
imagination in which many of his colleagues were wont 
to indulge. Indeed, Bancroft does not claim too much 
for himself when he says that "I shall next proceed to 
acquaint you with its (Guiana's) vegetable and animal 
productions, in a simple, but, I hope, intelligible language, 
avoiding all embellishments of stile, which, in subjects of 
this Jiature, are incompatible with perspicuity." 

The severity or Bancroft's work reduces it almost to 
the nature of a naturalist's dictionary, and, although he 



SOUTH AMERICA IN ENGLISH PRINT 479 

does hold that the abundance of snakes ought to ''humble 
the pride and arrogance of man, by convincing him, that 
all things are not made obedient to his will, nor created 
for his use," and although he has this to say with some 
feeling about the chigger, that it "is a small dusky insect 
resembling a flea, but somewhat smaller, and happily it 
is incapable of leaping, or the Torrid Zone would be un- 
inhabitable, ' ' such opinions are rare enough in his pages. 

One of the most curious of the eighteenth century vol- 
umes on Guiana is Captain J. G. Stedman's ''Narrative 
of a Five Years' Expedition against the Revolted Ne- 
groes of Surinam in Guiana, on the Wild Coast of South 
America, from the year 1772 to 1777." This was pub- 
lished toward the end of the eighteenth century (the au- 
thor's copy is dated 1796) and is provided with some 
finely reproduced but most curious illustrations, some of 
the natural history plates being unwittingly, but irresisti- 
bly, comic. 

Among other volumes on British Guiana is Henry Bol- 
ingbroke's "Voyage to the Demerary, containing a Sta- 
tistical Account of the Settlements there, and of Those on 
the Essequebo, the Berbice, and Other Contiguous Rivers 
of Guayana." (1807). Bolingbroke, it may be said, was 
deputy vendue master in Surinam for six years. 

Another is Dr. John Hancock's "Observations on the 
Climate, Soil, and Productions of British Guiana, and on 
the Advantages of Emigration to . . . that Country; to- 
gether with Incidental Remarks on the Diseases, their 
Treatment and Prevention," etc. (1835.) 

In 1841 was published "Twelve Views in the Interior 
of Guiana, from Drawings by Charles Bentley," a work 
which contains a notably handsome collection of colored 
plates, and the letter-press of which was supplied by Sir 
Robert H. Schomburgk. 

Just twenty years later was published a fairly com- 
prehensive volume by W. H. Brett: "The Indian Tribes 
of Guiana, their Condition and Habits, with Researches 



480 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

into their Past History, Superstitions, Legends, Antiqui- 
ties, Languages." 

In 1855, H. G. Dalton wrote a ''History of British Gui- 
ana . . . together with an Account of its Climate, Geol- 
ogy, Staple Products, and Natural History." 

Another work: ''El Dorado, or British Guiana as a 
Field for Colonization," was written by the Eev. W. T. 
Veness in 1866. 

The Falkland Islands were fairly fully described in 
1789, when was published the "Voyage round the World 
. . . performed in 1785 and 1788 in the King George and 
Queen Charlotte, Captains Portlock and Dixon." 

A slender but very useful book on the islands was writ- 
ten by G. T. Whitington in 1840. This contains a descrip- 
tion of the islands and an urgent appeal for their coloni- 
zation. In the same year L. B. Mackinnon published 
"Some account of the Falkland Islands, from a Six 
Months' Residence in 1838 and 1839." 

Beyond this, numerous books dealing with Argentina 
provide descriptions of the Falkland Islands. 



CHAPTEE XXIII 

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE BEITISH IN THE NINETEENTH 
CENTUEY (l) 

Great Britain as a Source of Capital — Some Ethics of Partnership — ESles 
played by the British in the Development of South America — The 
nearest approach to a mining rush — The Nitrate Industry — Discov- 
ery and early vicissitudes of the Commodity — The Chilean Coalfields 
— Pioneers in Banking and Finance — ^Various British Communities in 
the Continent — Their Populations — ^Description of a Northern Burial 
Ground — Ecclesiastical and Educational Establishments — Some Irish 
Institutions — Father Fahy — Success of the Communities — The Brit- 
ish in Uruguay — Some Curiosities in Castilian — British Missionary 
Enterprise — Captain Allen Gardiner — The South American Mission- 
ary Society — Fields of the Work — ^Mr. W. Barbrooke Grubb — ^His 
achievements among the Lengua Indians — The Rev. R. J. Hunt — ^Work 
of the Society in Southern Chile — The Dioceses of South America — 
Support of various Chaplaincies — Schools and Institutions — An Ex- 
tract from Hadfield — Mr. Morris' work in Buenos Aires — Its success. 

IT has been said by some that the great amount of capi- 
tal which Great Britain began to pour into South 
America at the time of the War of Liberation, and 
which she has ceaselessly continued to provide from that 
day to this, had the effect of bringing into being that 
which was virtually a financial dominion over the South- 
ern continent. But, regarded from the practical point of 
view, this alleged financial dominion has surely proved no 
more than an equitable expectation that the borrower 
should fulfil his half of the bargain toward the lender — 
an expectation that, allowing for the vicissitudes insep- 
arable from humanity, has been amply fulfilled. 

The more emotional of the South Americans — and they 
are not alone in this! — are not inclined to use a minor 
and muflOied key in giving voice to such grievances as it 
may fall to their lot to bear. But never, I think, has any 

481 



482 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

responsible statesman out of any of the ten republics of 
the continent accused the British of having acted as usur- 
ers, or, indeed, in any other manner, but as partners in 
the development of their lands and industries. Robbed 
of all sentiment — and in this instance sentiment is un- 
doubtedly present — the position may be put in a nutshell 
— that which has paid the one has paid the other. The 
finest political economist may seek for a thousand years 
in vain to improve on this very simple situation ! 

It is an obvious platitude to assert that in South Amer- 
ica the British have interested themselves chiefly in those 
branches of industry in which they themselves were 
strongest. Broadly speaking, these were finance, urban 
and port enterprise, traffic, and agriculture, this last in- 
cluding the pastoral industry. 

It was with finance that the South American field was 
first entered, for in the middle of the War of Liberation 
Great Britain — having in conjunction with the United 
States already supplied the insurgent forces with arms 
and munitions — made financial advances in the shape of 
war loans to several of the young and struggling states. 
^We have already seen how, at the victorious conclusion 
of the War of Liberation the British public, with more 
enthusiasm than judgment, rushed into a mining boom 
which ended disastrously for their pockets. Since that 
period the number of authentic mines which have been 
worked by British capital, from the North of the continent 
to the far South, is far too important to be dealt with 
here. A perusal of the stock and share lists of the 
various periods will reveal the condition of the successful 
ventures, and from time to time the gaps in these printed 
lists will reveal the casualties in the shape of failures. 

Only on one occasion does South America appear to 
have been threatened with a mining rush of the kind that 
occurred in California, Australia, and the Klondyke. The 
spot that was on the eve of being invaded by untold thou- 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 483 

sands of mineral seekers was in a remote district of the 
great river system of Brazil. 

About the middle of the nineteenth century there was 
a report of the existence of gold on the Upper Maranon. 
The rumor proved to be a false one, but it had the effect 
of attracting to the district a number of British and 
North American ''diggers," some of them of as wild an 
order as any that ever graced a mining camp. When one 
or two of these, straying in aimless disappointment along 
the great rivers, came into collision with some of the 
least tractable of the Indians, sanguinary scenes were 
wont to ensue. The period of these disturbances, how- 
ever, was short, for the newcomers, when once satisfied 
as to the absence of the rumored gold, made their visits 
as brief as possible. 

The interest taken by the British in the nitrate indus- 
try of the Pacific Coast was at the least as relatively im- 
portant as that shown in general mining, and the part 
played in this by Colonel North and his colleagues and 
successors is a matter of general knowledge. 

Tradition has it that the first discovery of the nitrate 
which has brought so much wealth to Chile and England, 
was — like that of even greater forces — due to an acci- 
dent. It is said that a woodcutter numed Negreros, hav- 
ing made a fire in the Pampa de Tamarugal, found to his 
amazement that the heated ground began to melt, and 
to run downhill like a stream ! On examination, the soil 
was found to be nitrate of soda. 

It is said too that the existence of nitrate was known 
in Europe as early as the middle of the eighteenth cen- 
tury. In 1820 a certain quantity was sent to England; 
but its reception there was decidedly a cold one ; for, dis- 
mayed at the amount of duty demanded on it, its owners 
flung it overboard. In 1830 a consignment sent to Liver- 
pool failed to find a buyer. However, after that the true 
value of the article began to be appreciated, for between 



484 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the years 1830 and 1850, 240,000 tons were exported. Mr. 
George Smith, it appears, was one of the first nitrate re- 
finers, and one of the most enthusiastic supporters of this 
industry. In 1828 he undertook, in company with Mr. 
William Bollaert, a survey of the nitrate province of 
Tarapaca at the request of the Peruvian Government, 
and from this period his interest seems to have been un- 
flagging. 

It may be said that the Mr. Bollaert mentioned here 
proceeded in 1855 on the invitation of Messrs Cousino and 
Garland to report on the now famous southern Chilean 
coal mines of Lota and Coronel, and his observations were 
afterwards read at the University of Chile. 

The inauguration in the continent of British banking 
upon a modern basis was reserved, of course, for a some- 
what later period. From their comparatively modest 
beginnings have now sprung such famous establishments 
as that of the London and River Plate Bank — which, 
founded, I believe, in 1863, stands as the pioneer — the 
London and Brazilian Bank, and others. 

These, of course, have found as allies a number of finan- 
cial houses of world-wide repute, the list of which, I sup- 
pose, may be headed by such firms as those of Rothschild 
and Baring. It is a matter of common knowledge how 
this latter house was involved in the Argentine financial 
crisis of 1890, when, as a result of the unwise policy of 
President Juarez Celman, Baring Brothers, the financial 
agents of the Argentine Government, were, through no 
fault of their own, forced into liquidation. The result 
showed that they were perfectly solvent, and in the end 
they emerged with flying colors from a difficult position. 

It is now time to take a rapid general glimpse of the 
various British communities in South America. Need- 
less to say, these were far more important in the temper- 
ate Southern half of the continent than in the tropical 
North. We have already seen that, very soon after its 
capture by the South Americans from the Spaniards, the 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 485 

city of Valparaiso is reported to have had a British popu- 
lation of a thousand persons. 

Since the full establishmbent of independence, how- 
ever, the town which has held the greatest attraction for 
the British has always been Buenos Aires. By the mid- 
dle of the nineteenth century it was computed that there 
were five thousand British residents in Buenos Aires, 
and the community already possessed a newspaper of its 
own, ''The British Packet." 

British immigrants, as a matter of fact, took very kindly 
to the towns at the edge of the southern alluvial plains, 
where, as one remarked, ''there were five miles of wash- 
erwomen on the beach ! ' ' Very soon they began to estab- 
lish their customs there. The original Foreigners' Club 
was founded in the Calle San Martin. Its first president 
was Mr. Thomas Duguid of Liverpool. There were also 
Eeading and Commercial Rooms owned by the British. 
These were followed by the establishment of a cricket club 
and a racecourse. 

The principal occupations to which the commercial por- 
tion of these British townsfolk applied itself were those 
of merchants, publicans, storekeepers, and boarding- 
house proprietors, Irish domestic servants predominat- 
ing. The British, moreover, owned many of the small 
farms in the neighborhood which supplied Buenos Aires 
with milk — an industry which has long since been taken 
over by the Basques. 

In 1865 the British population of the Argentine Repub- 
lic was calculated at S^jOOO. Of this number, however, no 
fewer than 28,000 were Irish — a number which represents 
an astonishingly large proportion to the whole ! In 1870 
the number of these British in the city and province of 
Buenos Aires alone had swollen to some 40,000, a total 
which the inhabitants of Argentina held out with some 
complacency against the eleven hundred and odd in Rio 
Janeiro and its neighborhood. 

Elsewhere the various British communities were natur- 



486 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

ally much smaller, and, indeed, from the mere numerical 
point of view, none of them claim any particular atten- 
tion. In one or two of the tropical States, indeed, the 
British population has tended to diminish, mainly from 
climatic causes. Here and there exists evidence of this 
of a much more eloquent nature than that rendered by 
mere statistics. Thus there is a record that at Caracas 
on the 26th of April, 1834, when the affairs of Venezuela 
gave a promise that has not yet been fulfilled, occurred the 
consecration of an English church and burying ground. 

From the description of these given by Mr. Edward 
Eastwick, who visited the town in 1864, no small neglect 
must have supervened. Mr. Eastwick remarks that : 

''The English burial-ground and the German are on 
the southern outskirts of the city, and are very poor places 
as compared with the Catholic cemetery. They are both 
covered with weeds, but, in the British burial-ground, the 
rank grass is so tall that it is impossible to see the graves, 
and the whole place is full of ant-hills several feet high. 
There is a chapel, with an inscription to say that it was 
built by Robert Ker Porter at his sole expense. ' ' 

As has been said, the chief cause of this melancholy 
picture was undoubtedly climatic. Fortunately it has few 
counterparts in South America, where the Church and 
its missionaries have played a very manful part, and 
where their efforts, let it be said, have been enthusiastic- 
ally seconded by United States enterprise. Ecclesiastical 
work proper has naturally been undertaken on the largest 
scale in Argentina. 

Among the British ecclesiastical establishments of the 
mid-nineteenth century in Buenos Aires were the Eng- 
lish Episcopalian Church, the Scottish Presbyterian 
Church, and of course the Irish Roman Catholic estab- 
lishments of much older standing. These included the 
convent of the Irish Sisters of Mercy, and the Irish Con- 
vent School and House of Refuge, which held some sev- 
enty boarders, chiefly the daughters of Irish sheep- 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 487 

farmers, while the House of Eefuge was intended as a 
temporary home for Irish servants when disengaged. All 
this was founded by a very notable Irish priest, Father 
Fahy, a very prominent and widely loved character, 
whose capacity for good works seems to have been inex- 
haustible. 

In 1862 the Irish sheep farmers of Argentina founded 
a secular college in Lobos on the outskirts of Buenos 
Aires, and it is on record that the following year the in- 
stitution already possessed fifty resident pupils. 

One of the most noted pillars of the early Irish com- 
munity was Father Fahy, to whom I have just referred. 
An immensely and justly popular man, he appears to 
have acted not only as spiritual adviser, but as a very 
practical father in the business affairs of many, and un- 
doubtedly many a household has to thank its prosperity 
to the kindly and unceasing efforts of Father Fahy. 

In 1889 Sir Horace Eumbold wrote of the Irish in the 
river Plate : * ' The Irish have, in short, proved as great 
a success and as valuable an element in the river Plate 
as they have been in so many ways a failure in North 
America. They own almost entire districts in the north 
and center of the province of Buenos Aires, where they 
have endowed chaplaincies, and founded schools of their 
own with libraries attached to them ; and altogether they 
present an aspect so different from that of their brethren 
in 'the distressful country' at home, that one cannot but 
think that a providential outlet is offered to them in these 
regions. ' ' 

Seeing that Englishmen and Scotsmen, although far 
fewer in numbers, had met with a corresponding success, 
the general community began to find itself in a distinctly 
flourishing condition at the beginning of the second half 
of the nineteenth century. Some idea of the wealth which 
was already accumulating at that time in some of the more 
important South American centers may be gathered from 
the fact that at a bazaar held in Buenos Aires in 1860 to 



4«88 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

assist in the building of the English hospital no less a 
sum of £1500 was collected. This hospital, it may be said, 
was not the first. It was founded to supersede an earlier 
establishment founded in 1847. 

In the pastoral country of Uruguay the situation of the 
British closely resembled that of their countrymen in Ar- 
gentina, although it must be said that political circum- 
stances were far longer in adjusting themselves in the 
former state than in the latter. 

In the middle of the nineteenth century there were — 
in addition to a number of British estancieros, stockmen 
and shepherds in the "camp" — many British mechanics 
in Montevideo itself. Indeed, the British community of 
the Uruguayan capital had by this time attained to con- 
siderable importance, and a handsome church had been 
erected and presented in 1846 to his fellow countrymen by 
Mr. Samuel Laf one, one of the most prominent river Plate 
merchants of his day. In connection with Montevideo, it 
is not a little remarkable to find that in the middle of the 
nineteenth century the paving-stones for the footways of 
the town were brought from England ! 

The Eev. J. H. Murray, who visited Uruguay and Ar- 
gentina in 1868, and was for a time chaplain in Colonia, 
has recorded some frank views concerning the contem- 
porary British population of Montevideo, which he says 
"was neither very attractive, nor on a par with that of 
Buenos Aires. ' ' 

Fortunately his opinion here clashes with those of vari- 
ous other contemporary authors, one of whom describes 
the same society as "of a very superior order — refined, 
intelligent, and hospitable.'* 

So it would seem that it is all a question of point of 
view and of the color of the glasses one chooses to wear ! 

There are various curiosities in Mr. Murray's book 
which make it well worth perusal. Modem languages are 
seldom the forte of a Church of England parson. Judg- 
ing by his rendering of the few words he quotes, I cannot 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 489 

help thinking that correct Castilian was a closed book to 
Mr. Murray. At all events his spelling was sufficiently 
phonetic to please the most revolutionary American. As 
written by him, Quinta becomes keenta; at his hands the 
inoffensive gato, or cat, becomes a gatter, and among his 
items of advice is the following: **You must never call a 
native a 'Gaucho' (pronounced Gowcher) ( !), which im- 
plies a wild savage; nor call a woman, a 'Chino,' or half- 
bred (equivalent to our female dog), as either would be 
esteemed a term of reproach. ' ' 

It would seem from such remarks as these that Mr. 
Murray had had his leg pulled by some of the less rever- 
ent of his congregation; but in any case it seems clear 
that he made a very gallant and conscientious attempt 
to accommodate himself to his surroundings, even when, 
on an unsuspecting visit to a church, he was caught up 
in a grand funeral mass for a deceased general. Pres- 
ently Mr. Murray found himself, holding a yard-long can- 
dle which he had accepted, sitting, kneeling, or standing 
with the rest. After a time he had seen enough, but re- 
treat seemed impossible, for all the chairs behind him had 
now become filled up, and he occupied too prominent a 
position for him publicly to abandon his candle. At last 
the means of escape offered itself in the shape of a new- 
comer who was advancing to the front, having neither 
candle nor chair. Murray seized the opportunity, pressed 
his candle and his chair upon the newcomer, and slid away 
from the spot in a fashion which proves that if he lacked 
somewhat in humor, he was by no means deficient in tact. 

But the remarks of this churchman have led us away 
from his own church and its missionaries. British mis- 
sionary enterprise in South America has naturally been 
conducted in somewhat difficult circumstances. Eegarded 
from the purely practical point of view, it is a far simpler 
matter to deal with savages over whose land floats the 
metaphorical shadow of the Union Jack than with those 
whose country, when once it has become absorbed into the 



490 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

civilized world, will become subject to the laws of a Latin 
republic, and will become part and parcel of a Latin com- 
munity. 

The amount of good missionary work which has been 
effected is therefore all the more laudable, and, in spite of 
the inevitable disadvantages to which I have referred, 
much of the influence should continue permanent. 

The first missionary attempts of importance were made 
in Tierra del Fuego. More than one catastrophe oc- 
curred here, and Darwin's account of his voyage to these 
regions in the Beagle alone suffices to show the perils and 
dire hardships which these pioneer missionaries had to 
face. In this bleak country the Yahgan Indians have now 
become evangelized. 

It was in 1844 that the first regular missionary society 
for South America was established. Known as the Pat- 
agonian Missionary Society, it was founded by a naval 
man. Captain Allen Gardiner, who visited the still truc- 
ulent Araucanian Indians of southern Chile, and de- 
scribed his adventures in a book published in 1841, '^A 
Visit to the Indians on the Frontiers of Chili.'' From 
this enterprise has been evolved the important associa- 
tion known as the South American Missionary Society. 

One of the tragedies of South American enterprise oc- 
curred in 1860, when the Patagonian Missionary schooner 
Allen Gardiner was captured by the Tierra del Fuego 
Indians, in the Beagle Channel. The master. Captain 
Fall, the mate, five seamen, and Mr. Garland Phillips, a 
catechist, were murdered, and only one man managed to 
make his escape from the scene of the disaster. 

The chief fields of missionary work among the abor- 
igines are the Paraguayan Chaco and southern Chile. It 
is among the swamps and forests of the Paraguayan 
Chaco — where an extraordinary scourge of human insects 
burns the human skin like fire, and where the Indian is 
only just emerging from the state that greets a stranger 
with an arrowhead — that the most striking work has re- 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 491 

cently been achieved. Here Mr. W. Barbrooke Grubb 
undertook a mission wbich earned for bim the title of the 
''Livingstone of South America." In 1889 he crossed 
the great river which divides civilized Paraguay from the 
savage Chaco, and entered boldly among the Lengua In- 
dians, escaping death by a marvelous concatenation of 
circumstances, and thus obtaining the lively distinction 
of being the only white man who had ever gone among 
these people and survived ! On one occasion, shot in the 
back, his life hung in the balance, but he recovered, and 
continued a work that has now accomplished the civiliza- 
tion of a considerable portion of the Lengua tribe, as well 
as of some neighboring groups. Another very notable 
missionary, and an authority on the Indian languages, is 
the Eev. E. J. Hunt, who went out in 1892. 

Had a Paraguayan of thirty years ago been told that 
of these fierce, intractable Indians — remarkable at the 
time for nothing beyond their wars, crude weapons, feath- 
ers, and drunken orgies — over fifty would in a short time 
become full members of the Church of England, they 
would undoubtedly have received the prophecy with the 
utmost incredulity ! But so it is. Much work, moreover, 
has been undertaken among other tribes, formerly quite 
implacable, such as the Matacos of the Argentine Chaco, 
who now regularly proceed to San Pedro de Jujuy for 
the sugar-cane harvesting, and similar tribes such as Chu- 
nupis, Tobas, Chorotis, and others. 

In southern Chile, where the warrior race of Araucan- 
ians have now settled down to a comparatively tranquil 
existence, the work has arrived at a far more advanced 
stage, and the establishments here include four boarding 
schools. 

So much for the main missionary features of the so- 
ciety. As regards the ministerial side it founded in 1869 
the bishopric of the Falkland Islands, the jurisdiction of 
which originally included all South America with the ex- 
ception of British Guiana. Bishop Every, who acted 



492 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

for thirty years, was succeeded by Bishop Stirling. This 
bishop divided the diocese into two in 1908 — that of the 
Falkland Islands, including South America to the west of 
the Andes, that of Argentina taking the countries to the 
east. 

In this connection the society helped the following chap- 
laincies until they became self-supporting : Rosario, Cor- 
doba, and Tucumah, in Argentina ; Concepcion and Punta 
Arenas in Chile ; Sao Paulo in Brazil, and Callao in Peru. 
It is still helping, moreover, at the following Argentine 
centers: Buenos Aires, Alberdi, the province of Entre 
Rios, and the Welsh colony in Chubut ; at Santiago, Lota, 
Coronel, Coquimbo, and Temuco, in Chile; at Salto and 
Fray Bentos in Uruguay; and at Santos in Brazil. 

But even this does not exhaust the energies of the South 
American Missionary Society, for it has founded British 
schools at Alberdi and Trelew in Argentina, and at Tem- 
uco in Chile. Beyond this it has established a British 
orphanage at Los Cocos in Argentina, and is responsible 
for much seamen's work at the ports. 

Briefly, it may be said that the South American Mis- 
sionary Society is working in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, 
Peru, Paraguay, and Uruguay, with a traveling chaplain 
for the North of the continent. Its sixteen head-stations 
and twenty-four out-stations are staffed by 110 persons, a 
total made up of 18 clergy, 19 laymen, 57 women workers, 
and 16 native workers. Three doctors are normally at- 
tached to the missions. From all this it will be seen that 
the work is as notable for its scope as for its thorough- 
ness. 

I have come across an enthusiastic testimony to the ef- 
forts of the South American Missionary Society written 
in 1877 by Mr. Hadfield, who says : 

''With the feeble resources of the society, unaided by 
government or other assistance, the missionaries have 
traversed a large portion of the Amazon and its affluents, 
particularly the River Purus, where two or three are now 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 493 

residing amongst the Indian tribes, on its banks, pursu- 
ing their arduous work of endeavoring to Christianize 
them . . . one of the earliest pioneers of the society, Dr. 
Lee, was unfortunately drowned, by the sinking of a small 
steamer, moored to the banks of the Purus, and on which 
he was sleeping, some of the crew being on shore. The 
event was a very melancholy and discouraging one, but it 
did not deter his fellow-workers, the Kev. Mr. Clough 
and Mr. Resyek, from following in his track . . . Lately 
another missionary, the Rev. W. Thwaites Duke, has gone 
out to join his colleagues, and he has also sent home a very 
graphic account of his trip up the Amazon. ' ' 

Coming down to recent times, when some of the now 
enormous cities of South America demand a species of 
attention the need for which has only sprung up with their 
growth, the work of a clergyman, Mr. Morris, in Buenos 
Aires, has undoubtedly been most admirable, and has met 
with a gratifying response. This has lain among the 
youngsters of the city, and how great was its need has 
been evidenced by the present magnitude of the work 
which, including a mission hall and various schools, has 
met with the deservedly hearty encouragement of the Ar- 
gentine Government. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE BRITISH IN THE NINETEENTH 
CENTURY (ll) 

Influence of the practical atmosphere of the Americas — Some unlooked for 
results of the British expedition — Early military and naval settlers — 
Treaty rights — Relations between the British and South American 
agriculturalists — How the British adapted themselves to local cus- 
toms — Tricks of speech — Town communities — Early British pastoral- 
iats of the river Plate — The foundation of the livestock industry — 
Advent of the Scottish colony — The importation of pedigree stock — 
Later progress — First experiments in meat preserving — Development 
of the industry — The career of Robert Billinghurst — Some early 
estancia records — Success of the Irish pioneers — A scourge of "Camp" 
duellists — Pastoral incidents — Success and failure — The Henley 
colony — The Welsh colony at Chubut — Ideals and difficulties of the 
settlers — The Australian colony in Paraguay — Reasons for its founda- 
tion. Mr. Stewart Grahame on an experiment in socialism — Its col- 
lapse — A tentative exportation from Bolivia of llamas, alpacas, and 
VicuBas — Objections of the Bolivian Government — How its officials 
were outwitted — Some explorers, mountain-climbers, and travelers — 
The influence of sport. 

NO doubt as many delusions have been concerned 
with South America as with any other continent. 
Many Englishmen have sailed for the Spanish- 
speaking countries of that continent, expecting the voy- 
age's end to reveal to them a fantastic, paradoxical 
world such as was truly conjured up from Spain in Eu- 
rope by that mellow and delightful author, Richard 
Ford. Surely no writer ever opened the doors of a 
country more gently, and at the same time more widely 
— and the doors of Spain are the heaviest and creak the 
loudest of all at the push of an unskilled and ponderous 
hand ! 

But at no time were Ford's "Cosas de Espana" trans- 
lated with their full peninsular flavor across the West- 

494 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 495 

erii Ocean. In certain respects the atmosphere of the 
Americas has always proved unsympathetic. Its prac- 
tical influence has chilled, for instance, even the proverbs 
of Spain, and has reduced their resounding bulk to a 
handier collection of lesser volume. It has exercised a 
similar effect on many trappings, whether of speech, 
office, or general social environment. 

It need not be inferred from this that the Spanish 
South American has lacked his Iberian graces. The 
Spanish South American can be as eloquent as the Span- 
iard. The flow of his oratory is such as may be envied 
by the speakers of less fluent nations. But he has his 
strong practical side, for all that, and when occupied by 
the hard-and-fast business of the day, he is capable of 
turning the streams of his imagination and eloquence in 
a single-minded fashion upon even such prosaic and 
profitable objects as bulls, rams, and sires ! 

It was, indeed, this pastoral side of his existence, 
which — in the South, at all events — ^led to the first real 
intimacy between him and the British. As has been 
seen, the advent of these latter was heralded in a some- 
what truculent manner by the military expeditions to the 
Eio de la Plata The final results of this could by no 
means have been foreseen, when Admiral Home Pop- 
ham's fleet first cast anchor in the muddy waters that 
washed the town of Buenos Aires. From out of the 
smoke of battle grew the beginnings of a mutual respect 
and friendship. 

The expedition that had failed from a military point 
of view was crowned with an unexpected success in the 
affairs of every-day and commercial life. The influence 
of the British occupation had been greater than had been 
suspected at the time. It had served to disseminate 
new ideas, which had been eagerly drunk in by the South 
Americans. Moreover, although most of the British 
merchants who had flocked to the spot had departed 
with the fleet, a certain number had remained, while of 



496 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the rest there were not a few who returned to the tempt- 
ing field after the lapse of a year or two. 

As for the colonists themselves, the added confidence 
of their own strength, which the events of the expedition 
had taught them, had the effect of urging them to display 
more openly that warmth toward the foreigner, which 
they had experienced almost from their first contact with 
the outer world, but to which the laws of Spain had not 
permitted them to give expression. 

We have seen that the War of Independence was re- 
sponsible for the arrival of many British soldiers and 
sailors, a certain number of whom remained as settlers, 
in the Southern continent. The most pronounced im- 
migration of the British, however, followed the conclu- 
sion of this war, and the signing of the treaty which 
guaranteed to British subjects full protection, liberties, 
and trading rights, as well as exemption from all local 
claims such as those for military service and the like. 
It was after this that the British went beyond the first 
stage common to the immigrants in a foreign country: 
they took up land, and settled themselves for better or 
worse in the new territories of the South. 

I doubt if there has been a parallel in the entire his- 
tory of British immigration of the ease with which these 
settlers threw out their sentimental roots, and adapted 
themselves to their surroundings. The more practical 
side of the influx was marked by the arrival of pedigree 
cattle, horses, and sheep, and soon the Shorthorns and 
Herefords, Hackneys and Clydesdales, Lincolns and 
Romney Marsh, began to transform the livestock popu- 
lation of the pastoral plains. 

On the whole, nothing could have been happier than 
the relations between these newcomers and their Argen- 
tine or Uruguayan neighbors. The influence was mu- 
tual. The South American rapidly adapted himself to 
the British notions of breeding and sport. He took to 
polo, and learned how to go out with a gun a V anglais; 




AVENUE DE MAYO, BUENOS AIRES 




PLAZA CONSTITUCION STATION, BUENOS AIRES 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 497 

his stockmen altered the short bursts of tricky speed that 
characterized the typical Gaucho horse-race for the long, 
sweeping gallop of the English turf. 

The British, for their part, experienced an unusual 
lack of difficulty in adapting themselves to the ways of 
their adopted land. The interest which the personali- 
ties of their Gaucho stockmen compelled from the first 
rapidly deepened into an understanding that was by no 
means without its admiration. As the British estan- 
ciero became more conversant with the ethics of the 
Campo, he began to be imbued with some of the ardent 
pride of the natives of its soil. He discovered the merits 
of a poncho, and took to sipping mate through the bom- 
billa with the enthusiasm of the expert. His speech be- 
came more and more interlarded with local phraseology. 
Edward Smith became Don Eduardo to "William Brown, 
and William Brown was now Don Gulliermo to Don Edu- 
ardo — alias Edward Smith. Moreover, when Don Gul- 
liermo rode into a paddock it was into a potrero that he 
went ; when he mustered cattle, it was to a rodeo that he 
galloped, and if the tick disease smote his cattle, it was 
from grano malo that they suffered. And so on, not only 
in matters concerning livestock and the pastoral life, 
but in the general trend of existence — even down to such 
little local tricks of speech as that of trailing an inter- 
rogative "Nof" at the end of an affirmative sentence. 

However incongruous this mixture of languages and 
jargon might sound elsewhere, it fitted — and still fits — 
admirably the atmosphere of the free and open Campo: 
just as the suave Iberian influence is apt to give an ad- 
vantageous touch to those sunburned leaders of virile 
lives who hailed originally from northern latitudes. 

A similar process of blending occurred in the towns. 
But here the results were neither so rapid nor so com- 
plete, as was only natural among the larger distinct 
communities. On the other hand, there are some impor- 
tant communities, such as that of the Irish-Portenos of 



498 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Buenos Aires, that, up to a certain point, would seem 
to have identified themselves successfully with the dual 
interests of the two nationalities. But, so far as po- 
litical nationality is concerned, all alike would appear 
to have conformed to that natural law which calls on all 
settlers in South America to insist on their claim to 
South American citizenship first and foremost. 

The achievements of the early British settlers in the 
pastoral plains of the river Place are worthy of some 
detailed mention. A certain number of these had ar- 
rived, as a matter of fact, during that final decade of 
the colonial era, when, although the flag of Spain was 
still waving over the yellow waters of the great river, 
the fundamental laws of the empire had become greatly 
relaxed. The most prominent names among those who 
began to flourish in the period between 1802 and 1825 
would seem to be Gibson, Lafone, Brittain, Appleyard, 
Billinghurst, McKinley, Thwaites, White, Fair, Parish 
Eobertson, Carlisle, Nuttall, Gow^land, Harratt, Sheri- 
dan, Miller, Dick, Duguid, Puddicomb, Burton, Newton, 
Halsey, and Hannah. ^ 

It is, of course, only possible to give some scrappy 
fragments of information here concerning the progress 
effected by these pioneers. The following achievements, 
however, may rank among some of the most salient. In 
1813 Mr. Henry Lloyd imported into Argentine one hun- 
dred merino ewes, and this founded the first fine-wooled 
merino flock in the Province of Buenos Aires. The 
disturbed political condition of the country interfered 
with the further progress of the venture; but a little 
later Messrs. Harratt, Sheridan, and Whitfield founded 
merino stud flock, which became the most famous of its 
day. Other notable sheep-breeders of that period were 
Mr. John Hannah, Mr. William White, Mr. Richard 
Newton, Mr. John Fair, and the Messrs. Gibson. 

In 1825 an important Scottish colony was formed on 

1 See list of early arrivals In Appendix. 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 499 

the Monte Grande Estancia, some six leagues from the 
city of Bnenos Aires, which had originally been the 
property of the Gibson brothers. This had been pur- 
chased by John and William Parish Eobertson, who 
made arrangements for the reception of the Scottish col- 
ony there. About sixteen thousand acres were set aside 
for this purpose, and these lands were occupied by some 
two hundred and fifty persons, including children, who 
sailed out from Edinburgh in the good ship Symmetry. 

Here are the last two verses of a lengthy poem by one 
of the Monte Grande colonists descriptive of the voyage. 
Undoubtedly the quality of its inspiration is lower than 
celestial, but it gives a quaintly cheerful account of a 
fateful arrival: 

The Symmetry anchored, boats gathered around them, 
While jabbering foreigners their luggage received ; 
The Babel o' tongues was enough to confound them. 
But naebody understood Scotch, they perceived. 

Betimes there started a eoo-cairt procession, 
0' colonists, implements, bedding, and rations, 
Bound for the South, where the Robertson concession 
Awaited to welcome the Scotch Immigrations. 

Although the Scottish Colony, the advent of which was 
thus sung, suffered greatly from the civil wars into 
which the country became plunged, the proportion of its 
individual members who ultimately achieved success was 
very large. Still pursuing the policy of selecting the 
most salient scraps of information, it may be said that 
some thirty years after the founding of the sheep- 
breeding industry Mr. Robert T. Gibson established a boil- 
ing-down factory on his estancia, ''Los Yngleses," an im- 
portant departure which opened up a new market for 
the produce of the Campo, and which caused the price of 
livestock to rise. 

Just about this time a number of English breeds of 
sheep were introduced, among them being the South- 



500 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

down, Leicester, Lincoln, and Shropshire. Sheep-farm- 
ing in Argentina at the middle of the nineteenth cen- 
tury was a sufficiently remunerative occupation, for it 
could be conducted on an imposing scale with a sur- 
prisingly small outlay of capital. This will be evident 
when it is explained that land could be acquired then for 
some five hundred pounds the square league, and that 
native sheep with which to stock it could be got at from 
eight pence to a shilling each ! 

Advancing further on this same system, we find that 
in 1848 Mr. White imported into Argentina the first 
Shorthorn cattle, and thus began the revolution in cattle- 
breeding which has been responsible for such epoch- 
making results at the present day. The first Shorthorn 
bull that trod the Campo was called Tarquin, and it was 
owing to this that all Shorthorns, or mestizos of Short- 
horn type, were subsequently widely known among 
South Americans as ''Tarquinos," or "Talquinos." 

We now arrive at a period of more rapid progress. 
Between 1850 and 1880 some of the most prominent 
British names connected with the general breeding of 
livestock are those of Fair, White, Hannah, Shennan, 
Musgrave, 'Grady, and Kemmis — the last being espe- 
cially associated with thoroughbred horse-breeding. 

In 1866 some stir was caused in Buenos Aires by the 
arrival of Messrs. Sloper and Paris, who came out to 
make some experiments in connection with the former's 
invention of a system of preserving meat by means of 
the exhaustion of air and the substitution of nitrogen. 
It was not until 1883, however, that the meat industry 
first began to develop on commercial lines. Then 
Drabble Brothers in Campana, and S. G. Sansinena in 
Barracas began to freeze mutton for shipment to Great 
Britain. Soon afterwards other firms such as John Nel- 
son & Co. and O'Connor & Co. joined in, and in ten 
years' time no fewer than 1,300,000 carcases were being 
shipped in the place of the trifling 17,000 that had been 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 501 

exported from the river Plate during the first year of 
the industry. 

So much for a few of the chief landmarks in the careers 
of the river Plate pastoralists. We may now leave the 
severe highroad of their progress, and wander for a 
short time among the leafy and winding by-ways. 

There is at least one name among those already men- 
tioned that evokes a peculiarly wide interest. This is 
that of Eobert Billinghurst, who came out either with 
the British to river Plate, or immediately after it. Bil- 
linghurst appears to have been a man of considerable 
attainments. Flinging himself with ardor into the af- 
fairs of the young republic, he married an Argentine 
lady, and became an Argentine, the first Englishman, I 
believe, to be naturalized as a South American. 

Eobert Billinghurst sat as a deputy in the first con- 
gress, and rose to be one of the leaders of the party that 
was subsequently known as "Unitarian." This was the 
party that, under the leadership of Lavalle, opposed 
first Dorrego, and afterwards Rosas. When the latter 
became dictator, Billinghurst, like so many others, was 
forced to flee the country. 

It was the grandson of this Robert Billinghurst who, 
as President of Peru, died quite recently, and who un- 
doubtedly was one of the most upright and liberal chiefs 
of state that has ever held office in that republic. There 
is, by the way, a street in Buenos Aires named after the 
original Billinghurst. 

It is only natural that the records of the early British 
estancieros in the Rio de La Plata should be scanty. 
The lives of very few pioneers in any walk of life are 
inclined to adapt themselves to detached literary effort ! 
Some data, however, have been preserved concerning 
the estates of the Gibson brothers, who at the end of the 
first quarter of the nineteenth century were very large 
landowners. It is on record, for instance, that the list 
of stores ordered in 1825 for one of their estancias, the 



502 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

*' Carmen," included "gunpowder, two cannons, eight 
muskets, twenty sabers, lead and stone cannon balls." 
That these objects were not designed merely as orna- 
ments was found out to their cost by the Indians on the 
occasion of their next raid, when the ''Carmen" was not 
caught napping. 

An interesting incident concerning another of the fam- 
ily estancias, Los Yngleses, is thus related by Mr. 
Herbert Gibson in his book : ' ' The sheep-breeding Indus- 
try in the Argentine Republic": "The shearing con- 
tinued to be a difficult operation until about 1845. Labor 
was not easy to obtain, and women and children had 
often to do the work. This was because the native was 
either serving in the National Guard at the orders of the 
Dictator Eosas, or hiding away from the detachments 
which were constantly scouring the country in search of 
recruits." Apropos of this scarcity of hands, an in- 
cident in 1845 served the estancia in good stead. Eosas 
had shut the Parana Eiver against foreign flags . . . 
and at last in 1845 the British minister asked for his 
passports, and left the country, announcing his action 
to the English residents. The author's father was down 
in the "Yngleses," and received the announcement a 
few days later, but resolved to remain where he was, 
and trust to the chivalry of the Argentine commander 
in the South, to leave him in peace. At this time the 
cattle roamed untended, there being no hands to mob 
them or brand them, for all the gauchos were cantoned 
and under arms. There was a danger of the stock be- 
coming unmanageable, and the greater part being un- 
branded, they could be claimed by any neighbor as his 
own. Mr. Eobert Gibson rode down from Buenos Aires 
to Dolores, and applied to Colonel del Valle, the Chief 
in Command, for a picket of men to do the work. Del 
Valle 's answer was a flattering one: "For your brother 
who remained at his estancia when his minister advised 
him to leave the country? Most willingly!" 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 503 

I have already referred more than once to the notable 
success attained by the Irish, who were the earliest of 
all the British pioneers to arrive in the river Plate. A 
circumstance which at a later period added to the value 
of these Irish as shepherds was their freedom from the 
military liabilities which even before the time of Eosas 
would occasionally sweep an estancia clean of all its 
gauchos at five minutes' notice. 

The industrial merits of these Irish, moreover, were 
keenly appreciated by the Argentines, who would take 
these shepherds into partnership so far as the flock under 
their care was concerned. By this working arrangement 
the estanciero provided the sheep and the land, and the 
shepherd supplied the labor. As a result, the flocks of 
these shepherds increased rapidly, and they, in turn, be- 
came estancieros, frequently attaining to great riches, 
while the Argentine himself received no little benefit from 
the arrangement. 

Those who enter the ''back-blocks" of a new and dis- 
turbed country cannot expect to lie upon a bed of roses. 
There were "bad men" among the gauchos, of course, 
and a few of these could scarcely fail to fall foul of the 
Irish pioneers. It is related that one of these latter, in- 
furiated by the wantonness of some of the knife play he 
witnessed, took to the weapon himself, and slew seven- 
teen expert duellists and ' ' Camp ' ' Bravos by slashing in 
sincerely and wholeheartedly with his knife while his op- 
ponents were airily occupied with the preliminary airy 
ceremonial flourishes of their weapons! 

Needless to say, half a century ago the British 
estancieros did not dress for dinner, nor did their table- 
cloths reflect the golden bubbles of champagne! Such 
luxuries are only attained to in a pastoral country by 
much labor and many gradual stages. Half a century ago 
tablecloths themselves were very rare, and frequently non- 
existent. In 1860 Hinchliff tells the story of a young 
Englishman who set out from home to join a friend of 



504. BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

his, a Scotsman of the name of Anderson, who had estab- 
lished himself on an estancia fifteen leagues from Pay- 
sandii in Uruguay. Mr. Roberts, the former, who had 
not announced his intention beforehand, hoped for a 
warm welcome and a roof to cover his head. He ob- 
tained the former, but not the latter. Anderson had 
expended all his capital on his land and livestock. In 
company with a single staunch gaucho, he was sleeping 
on his saddle under the stars, in the fashion of a true 
pioneer. The house was to come later — when the wool 
of the sheep and the beef and hides of the cattle would 
have justified it ! 

It is my endeavor in this book to give as many as possi- 
ble of other people 's opinions — especially when they hap- 
pen to coincide with my own ! — so I will quote a couple of 
paragraphs from Sir Horace Rumbold on the early Brit- 
ish settler on the Argentine Campo : 

''He was to be met from the first at the advanced posts 
and in the most exposed situations, tilling the ground and 
raising cattle, rifle in hand, in the evil days when the 
Indian plague was still at its worst. But the very daring 
of his first ventures in some instances led to disastrous, 
and sometimes tragical failure, as in the massacres at 
Fraile Muerto. 

"Many of the young Englishmen who were first 
tempted to come out were perhaps scarcely fitted by birth 
or education, for a hard life of unremitting toil and 
severe privation. Some of them went home in disgust, 
while of those who struggled on, not a few took to drown- 
ing their cares in whisky, or cafia, or fell into the toils 
of the native chinas, and speedily sank to the level of the 
ordinary Gaucho." 

Success, in fact, was not universal — for the simple rea- 
son that such has never been the nature of success ! If 
there were a weak spot, the solitude of the Campo was 
designed to find it out. There is a tale told of two Eng- 
lishmen who spent most of their time in bed in a humble 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 505 

rancJio, a whisky bottle suspended from the roof at the 
end of a string between the pair. By this means the 
drink could be swung from the one to the other with the 
least possible amount of trouble ! But the proportion of 
such sorry workers to death of an unnecessary hobby to 
the whole fine army of British estancieros, mayordomos, 
and workers in general in the *'Camp" is most gratify- 
ingly insignificant. 

In 1870 a notable colonist venture was undertaken by 
a Mr. Henley, who, having got together a number of en- 
terprising young men of good family and circumstances, 
arranged for their settlement on the Argentine Campo. 
The first company of these to go out numbered fifty, and 
altogether nearly a hundred landed on the shores of the 
La Plata. Of these ''Henley boys" a considerable pro- 
portion met with success, and became flourishing land- 
owners. 

The physical conditions of the north of the continent, 
of course, forbade any pastoral enterprise which in any 
way approached that of the south. Sometimes the Brit- 
ish were led into ventures of this kind, however, whether 
they would or not. An instance of this kind occurred 
when in 1855 the government of Ecuador issued warrants 
to the amount of £560,000 in part payment of arrears of 
Interest to British holders of its stock. In consequence, 
a British company was formed to work the land, and in 
1859 the yacht Kittiwake sailed to Ecuador with experts 
in agriculture, geology, botany, and engineering. Almost 
immediately afterwards war broke out between Peru and 
Ecuador, and the lands ceded to the British were claimed 
as Peruvian. As compensation for this some other lands 
were assigned to the British. I have no record as to 
whether any financial return of consequence was ever de- 
rived from these. Judging from the disturbed political 
conditions of the period, the probabilities are against this. 

The British have seldom gone out to South America as 
agricultural laborers or as the workers of small holdings. 



506 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Colonies, therefore, of the extent of those founded by the 
Russians, Poles, and Jews have not obtained in their case. 
Nevertheless two sufl&ciently notable instances of British 
Colonies occur at a much later period than that of the 
Scottish enterprise, and comprise immigrants of a differ- 
ent social status to that of the *' Henley boys." 

The Welsh Colony at Chubut, near Puerto Madryn in 
the Argentine province of Chubut, is the senior of these 
two ventures. It was founded in 1865 by a Mr. Lewis 
Jones, who, together with some comrades likewise im- 
bued with some of the more soaring and attractive of the 
Celtic ideals, desired to establish a community which 
might cultivate these without interference from the out- 
side world. Towards the end of the last century the 
colony numbered no fewer than two thousand inhabitants, 
who have proved themselves in every way admirable 
workers and desirable citizens. 

Having never had the opportunity of visiting the Welsh 
colony, I am necessarily speaking from hearsay. From 
this it would appear that their patriotic ideals have not 
been fully realized, and it would seem that the increase in 
the population of the colony has ceased. Perhaps its 
founders had not reckoned sufficiently with that Argentine 
law — quite reasonable in itself — ^which makes every child 
bom on Argentine soil an Argentine subject, and thus 
liable to Argentine regulations, and, if a boy, to his an- 
nual term of military service. This would seem to have 
placed serious difficulties in the way of the original ideas 
of the Welsh colony — among which was the thorough cul- 
tivation of the Welsh language — and in this respect has 
proved somewhat discouraging to these southern wheat- 
growers and breeders of sheep and cattle, though their 
material situation would seem to be flourishing. 

The Australian colony that was established in Para- 
guay provides a different, and more dramatic tale. This 
venture was organized by Australian socialists, under the 
leadership of William Lane, an honorable but visionary 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 507 

man, a success in journalism, a tragic failure in Utopian 
land settlement. Under his guidance a number of famil- 
ies of some of the finest artisan and laboring stock in the 
Antipodes, disgusted with the unsatisfactory result to 
them of the great Australian strike, sailed in 1893 from 
the Dominion to the Colony of New Australia in Para- 
guay — a hundred square leagues of good land presented 
to them by the government of Paraguay, which showed a 
commendable anxiety to get colonists of this type to settle 
within its boundaries. 

The result of this enterprise has been described often 
enough, but never more lucidly than by Mr. Stewart 
Grahame in his book ''Where Socialism Failed." No 
community ever set out with loftier aims, or with a more 
settled determination to do their duty by their neighbors 
in a state where each should work for all, and all should 
share and share alike. The venture had an absolutely 
fair trial: there was no interference from without. But 
when theory began to be put into practice, failure loomed 
from the very start. Dissension and splits in the com- 
munity completed the work of the discontent brought 
about by an honest attempt at an equal division of the 
fruits of unequal labor. After this the community aban- 
doned its theories. Those who remain in New Australia 
work for themselves instead of for others, and appear 
contented with the result ! 

Before abandoning the topic of the British Agricultural 
and pastoral work in South America, let us turn back 
again for a last glimpse at the mid-nineteenth century. 
The following episode justifies the retrograde movement, 
as will be seen from its character ! 

Almost every known domestic animal has, at one time 
or another, been introduced into South America; but it 
was left to a Mr. Ledger in 1858 to attempt a reversal of 
the process. Having resided for a number of years in 
Peru and Bolivia, he became impressed with the idea 
of transporting some specimens of the few kinds of 



508 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

indigenous South American domestic animals to Austra- 
lia. 

So, having purchased some flocks of llamas and al- 
pacas, together with a few vicunas, he assembled them 
in the neighborhood of Lake Titicaca, and there, where 
the feather-crowned and gold-plated Inca magnates had 
once led the worship to the sun, he prepared himself, and 
his four-legged, swan-necked brood for the journey to the 
coast. 

Before the expedition had set out, Mr. Ledger heard 
news which would have dismayed a less resolute man. 
The Bolivian government, it appeared, had decided not 
to allow his flocks to leave the country. This procedure 
was typical of the old Spanish regime rather than of the 
new and liberal Republics. Yet such relicts of the im- 
perial theories of monopoly were wont to crop up now 
and then in this continent. Before now, indeed, some 
important issues have been involved in this way. I have 
heard from a London merchant — a Mincing Lane man of 
the old stamp so delightfully portrayed in ' ' Vice Versa, ' ' 
— of the great difficulty that was experienced in obtain- 
ing from Brazil the seeds of rubber trees for the plant- 
ing of tentative groves in the East. 

But this, from a commercial point of view, seems rea- 
sonable enough compared with this prohibition of ani- 
mal export. For in this latter, no competition was in- 
volved, and it is difficult to see how the mere presence 
of a young llama in Sidney could effect its father's wel- 
fare in Bolivia! Or, even that of its father's master — 
in which after all lies the crux and the human element 
of the situation ! 

Perhaps it was some such views as these latter which 
strengthed Mr. Ledger 's already strong personal interest 
in the scheme. Perhaps he argued to himself that if a 
coach and four could be driven through any act of the 
British parliament, surely a flock of llamas and vicunas 
could be coaxed through a Bolivian By-law ! 







OLD PRINT OF THE LLAMA AND INDIANS 




SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 509 

So Ledger left the neighborhood of Lake Titicaca, only 
to find that the Bolivian officials were on the look-out for 
him. In order to escape detection, therefore, Ledger and 
his convoy were obliged to forsake the main-roads — them- 
selves mere sheep-tracks — and to scramble as best they 
could across the peaks and valleys of the stupendous 
Bolivian Mountain country. This achievement in itself, 
involving immense hardships, was a sufficiently notable 
one. 

Once arrived in the neighborhood of the North-western 
Argentine frontier, our intrepid smuggler found himself 
on the threshold of the crisis of his enterprise. Ahead 
of him was the Bolivian frontier guard, warned, and on 
the look-out for his approach. How on earth was Ledger 
to conceal the many scores of his tall llamas ! A few rab- 
bits he might have placed in a game pocket : but this was 
not to be done with an animal too lowly for a camel, too 
lofty for a sheep, and too shaggy for a deer. Moreover 
any interference with the llama 's dignity would undoubt- 
edly have resulted in a hiss of protest followed by that 
unerring ejection of the missile of saliva which is that 
haughty creature 's principal weapon. 

So Mr. Ledger determined to dispense with the services 
of a single llama as accomplice. Having concealed his 
flock in some field of the mountains, he strode forward 
alone, bearing bottles as full to the mouth with fiery 
liquid as was the horse of Troy with men. 

Arrived at the frontier port, the guards, — ^who did not 
know Mr. Ledger by sight — ^welcomed with effusion the 
presence and generous beverages of one whom they took 
to be an irresponsible and super-jovial traveler. Fortune 
favored this bold stroke. The frontier guards drank, 
chattered, sang, and slept in that conventional and satis- 
factory fashion that is seldom seen off the operatic stage. 
Then Ledger darted away, and returned, to lead his com- 
panies of padding animals past the slumbering sentries 
on to Argentine soil, and freedom ! 



510 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

After a further strenuous mountain journey, he sailed 
from the Chilean coast, and landed in Sydney with, it is 
said, a mixed flock of 276 llamas, alpacas, and vicunas. 

Mr. Hinchliff in referring to this episode in 1863 re- 
marks: '* These immensely valuable animals are now 
thriving in Australia and increasing so rapidly that they 
are already talked of as a very important element in the 
future wealth of our colonies.'* 

But this prediction, it seems, was of too optimistic a 
nature. At all events I, for one — who in my youth ex- 
changed the remote possibility of a diplomatic cocked hat 
for the privilege of chasing sheep in the back blocks of 
New Zealand — ^met with no llamas, or even tales of llamas 
in Australasia. But it need not be deduced from this 
fact alone that these animals do not exist somewhere 
in the Dominions ! 

Perhaps the end of a chapter devoted to these breezy 
callings of the open air would be as fitting a place as any 
other in which to refer briefly to the South American feats 
of such noted mountain-climbers as Conway, Whymper, 
and Fitzgerald, and to the work of explorers and f rontier- 
delimitators such as Holditch, Fawcett, and Edwards. 

There are lady travelers of a past generation, too, such 
as Lady Brassey, whose cruise in the Sunbeam was 
largely devoted to South America, and Lady Burton, who 
roughed it with her brilliant husband across the ''back- 
blocks" of Brazil. 

But it is necessary to resist the temptation to launch 
out in these directions. There are of course, many other 
travelers and geographers of note, including the recently 
deceased Sir Clements Markham, to whom reference is 
made in another place. The names I have given are 
merely representative of the various bodies — a course that 
must necessarily be adopted if encyclopaedic dimensions 
are to be avoided in this work. 

In connection even with such weighty subjects as these, 
it is by no means out of place to make a passing refer- 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 511 

ence to sport. One of the most notable fields of British 
influence in South America has been — and is — connected 
with sport. The importance of this is not to be under- 
rated; for the football and the golf -club, the lawn-tennis 
racquet and the racing craft, the polo ball and the coach- 
horn, and all the rest of such gear, have been vitally 
instrumental in evoking a real intimacy and mutual re- 
spect between the British and the South Americans. No 
more convincing evidence exists of the stage which has 
been arrived at in this respect, than the play of the Ar- 
gentine polo teams in England, the tour of a Corinthian 
"Soccer" eleven in Brazil, and the visit of Lord Hawke's 
cricket team to Argentina. 



CHAPTER XXV 

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE BRITISH IN THE NINETEENTH 
CENTURY (ill) 

Part played by the British in communications and transport — The South 
American steamship service — The introduction of steam navigation 
into the Pacific — William Wheelwright's work — Arrival of the first 
steamers — Progress in the Pacific and in the Atlantic — North Ameri- 
can competition — A Darien project — The founding of the Royal IVIail 
Steam Packet Company — Supremacy of British shipping established 
— Increase of British trade with Brazil — Costliness of the early ocean 
mails — British control — British railway enterprise in South America 
— Its value as a national advertisement — Work of the pioneers — In- 
dians and fever — Labor difficulties — ^William Wheelwright and the 
railways of South America — Some details of a notable career — Indus- 
trial concessions and feats — The first South American railway — A 
Chilean enterprise — Wheelwright's scientific attainments — His degree 
of fame — Railway enterprise in Paraguay — The development of the 
Argentine railways — A modest beginning — Eflfect on land values — 
The first railways of Uruguay — Of Venezuela — The first cables and 
tramways — Some modem feats of the South American railway enter- 
prise — Magnitude of the general industrial achievements. 

UNDOUBTEDLY some of the most monumental 
work achieved by the British in South America 
has been in connection with communications and 
transport. Indeed the shipping, railway — and, in a lesser 
degree, the tramway — enterprise of the British in the 
Southern Continent has every right to be regarded with 
deep pride by the nation in general. 

We may begin with the shipping industry, since that is 
primarily concerned with the coasts of the continent, and 
we may subsequently proceed to its inland heart by means 
of the railways ! 

It is somewhat curious that the west coast of South 
America should have had the advantage of a steamer con- 
nection with Europe for so many years before a similar 

512 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 513 

benefit was enjoyed by tbe far less remote east coast. 
One of the chief reasons for this undoubtedly lay in the 
political stability of Chile, and the confusion that pre- 
vailed at the time in the young river Plate States; al- 
though Brazil, it must be said, was entirely free from this 
state of affairs. 

The full credit for the introduction of steam naviga- 
tion into the Pacific must be given to Mr. William Wheel- 
wright, a very notable North American steam pioneer, 
who is referred to at some length later. Wheelwright, 
having in 1833 obtained the necessary concessions from 
the Chilean and Peruvian governments, came to England 
to establish a company for the running of the steamers. 
He found the city of London in an unresponsive mood. 
For years his efforts to overcome its apathy in this par- 
ticular direction were unsuccessful. At length he had 
the good fortune to meet Lord Abinger, who entered 
warmly into the project. In 1839 the company was 
formed, and two steamers, each of 750 tons and 180 horse- 
power, were built. 

This tardy response, however, had set the whole en- 
terprise in peril. There was no time to be lost if the 
first steamer were to arrive in a Chilean port within the 
period of time stipulated in the concession granted by 
the Chileans so many years before ! The new enterprise 
was known as the Pacific Steam Navigating Company, 
and it was in 1840 that its first steamers, the Peru and 
the Chili, drove southwards on their way to the Pacific 
Ocean with not an hour to spare ! 

An arbitrary delay of fourteen days enforced by the 
Brazilian Government in the harbor of Eio de Janeiro 
put all hope of success out of the question, and ultimately 
the vessels arrived off the Chilean coast exactly thirteen 
days after the stipulated time-limit of years had ex- 
pired ! Fortunately the Chilean Government was keenly 
alive to the benefits promised by this service, and re- 
newed for ten years those privileges which have ever 



514 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

since been enjoyed by the Pacific Steam Navigation Com- 
pany. 

Considering that the enterprise was in its infancy, these 
early privileges were liberal. The Chilean government 
granted an annual subsidy of £12,000 for the direct steam 
communication with England. At a later period the 
Pacific Steam Navigation Company in connection with 
the Eoyal Mail Steam Packet Company entered into a 
contract with the British Government for the fortnightly 
conveyance of mails between Panama and Valparaiso. 

Shortly after 1850 the Pacific Steam Navigation Com- 
pany had on the West Coast of South America the follow- 
ing vessels : 

Tons Horse-power 

Lima 1,100 400 

Bogota 1,100 400 

Santiago 1,100 400 

Bolivia 800 280 

New Granada 600 200 

Valdivia 700 180 

Osprey 300 100 

So much for the inauguration of the British steamer 
enterprise in the Pacific. In the Atlantic — owing to the 
disturbed political condition of the river Plate States 
that has already been referred to — the chief freight and 
passenger traffic was almost entirely confined to the 
Brazilian ports. 

Towards the middle of the nineteenth century a serious 
competitive element entered into this commerce. The ten 
years between 1840 and 1850 were apparently somewhat 
critical ones for the British shipping trade with Brazil. 
During this period the value of the freights carried re- 
mained stationary at an annual figure of some three and 
a half millions sterling. A stagnation of this kind could 
entail nothing else but a serious lagging behind in the 
general progress, and actually nearly all the advance in 
tonnage during this decade was snapped up by the North 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 515 

American clippers, who were making a bold bid for the 
trade. 

Nevertheless, it is evident that some enterprising spirits 
were abroad on the British side from the fact that in 1844 
a Captain Liot was commissioned by the Koyal Mail 
Steam Packet Company to examine the isthmus of Darien 
with a view of linking the two oceans by means of a 
macadamized road or a railway. But the British Govern- 
ment, it appears, refused to throw in its influence in favor 
of the project, and, owing chiefly to this discouragement, 
the scheme fell through. 

To the southward of this an important event was soon 
destined to come about. Truly the influence of steam has 
been further-reaching than even the most inveterate trav- 
eler imagines ! What might have occurred had the con- 
test between the British and North Americans been left 
to the ''windjammers," and had the decision remained 
with canvas, might possibly have given food for some un- 
pleasant reading to-day. It was, however, at the critical 
moment that Great Britain launched out boldly into a 
new enterprise, and in 1850 the Eoyal Mail Steam Packet 
Company extended its field, and established a new and 
southern connection with Brazil and the river Plate. 

From that moment the advance of North American 
shipping in South America was doomed. Dozens of 
prominent men in the United States, foreseeing this, 
strongly advocated the founding of a rival steamship 
line. This move, indeed was urged with an almost pas- 
sionate intensity by those patriotic, practical and shrewd 
missionaries, Messrs. Kidder and Fletcher. 

But nothing materialized. The North Americans began 
to get into the habit — of which they are only now begin- 
ning to break themselves — of going from New York to 
South America via Southampton. British imports be- 
gan to spring up by leaps and bounds, and in five years 
the trade between Great Britain and Brazil had more than 
doubled itself. 



516 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Much of this advance, as a matter of fact, was due to 
the enormous increase in the coffee trade, which the ad- 
vantages of steam carriage now enabled the British to 
control. The great growth of this trade will be evident 
from the following figures: 

British exports in coffee in: 

Year Lbs. 

1852 3,000,000 

1853 52,000,000 

1854 59,000,000 

1855 112,000,000 

These figures are sufficiently striking to excuse the re- 
sort to the somewhat reprehensible tabular form! 

This period, indeed, was a notable one for British 
commerce with South America, as the increase in the com- 
bined imports and exports between Great Britain and 
Brazil will show, for in 1855 these had advanced from the 
average of three and a half sterling that had prevailed 
between 1840 and 1850 to a total of £8,162,455. 

The first steamship service instituted by the Royal 
Mail Steam Packet Company was a monthly one from 
Southampton to Rio de Janeiro, at which port passengers 
for the river Plate were transshipped into a smaller 
steamer. The ball having thus been set rolling, it was 
not long before active competition arose, and in 1853 a 
rival company was formed to start a regular steamship 
service between Liverpool and the river Plate. 

In those early days Liverpool would seem to have out- 
rivaled Southampton in the tonnage employed in the voy- 
ages to the river Plate. In 1835 the trade between the 
Mersey and the southern ports called for the employment 
of sixty-four vessels, the combined tonnage of which 
amounted to 11,850 tons — about the dimensions, that is 
to say, of a very moderate-sized liner of to-day ! The cor- 
responding tonnage of the Port of London, however did 
not amount to the half of this. 




EARLY TYPE OF ROYAL STEAM PACKET COMPANY SHIP 




A MODERN BRITISH SOUTH AMERICAN SHIP 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 517 

The costliness of the early ocean mails between Great 
Britain and the river Plate was sufficient to make the 
art of letter-writing a luxury. So far as Uruguay was 
concerned, it was claimed in 1854 that this disadvantage 
had been removed, when the postal rates were lowered 
to two shillings an ounce, with an increased ratio of cost 
for letters exceeding four ounces ! From this it will be 
realized that, even after these much praised reductions 
had been affected, the cheapness of the correspondence 
with Uruguay at that period was only relative! The 
charges in connection with the Brazilian mails were 
equally heavy. Postage between this empire and G-reat 
Britain was at one time 2/7 for anything up to half an 
ounce in weight, and even in the late 1870 's, the same 
amount could not be sent under the cost of a shilling. 

Until the middle of the seventies the British postoffice 
had a branch of its own in Rio de Janeiro. By this 
means the British dealt directly with the mails of their 
own nation, which did not pass through the hands of the 
Brazilian authorities. This, of course, created an un- 
usual international situation, which could not continue 
when Brazil had attained to its maturity as a state. A 
similar postal arrangement existed in the early days of 
the river Plate countries. 

The work of the British railway companies in South 
America should, as I have remarked before, stand as an 
everlasting monument to British enterprise in that con- 
tinent. Its broader aspects have never, I think, been 
sufficiently acknowledged by the world in general. It is 
difficult to believe that the British prestige in the southern 
continent could have maintained its height had it not been 
for those great systems of traffic which have been at hand 
to bear witness to an efficiency and an organizing power 
which has been by no means so patent in many other 
branches of our industries. 

It is the traveler 's privilege to indulge in an occasional 
mild grumble — a right which is, so to speak, thrown in 



518 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

with the ticket — and South America provides no excep- 
tion to this rule; at the same time, speaking generally, 
the working of the various British companies does extort 
admiration, both voluntary and unwilling, from all classes 
and nationalities in that continent. 

As a national asset, and, more, as a national advertise- 
ment, the value of these railways is not to be under- 
estimated, even when harvests fail and dividends fall. 
It would, I think, be a bad day for British enterprise 
should the work of the pioneers and of the present organ- 
izers pass into other hands. Certainly the results of any 
revolution of the kind would be dramatic enough in South 
America. However profitable a substitution of control 
might prove to certain groups, and however pleasing a 
state appropriation might be to the patriotic spirit of 
the various republics, the changing of the present situa- 
tion would surely prove to many that the substance of 
experience and efficiency is better than the shadow of 
unduly eager speculation or of untried new endeavor. 
If this sound too complacent, the failing must be con- 
doned by a survey of the general South American situa- 
tion, where at the present moment we have too little cause 
to congratulate our enterprise. 

Probably no work on South America would afford more 
interesting reading than one describing the experiences 
of the railroad pioneers of that continent. Decidedly 
the triumphs and tragedies of surveying and construction 
camps, if conscientiously told, would fill as much space as 
an ordinary encyclopaedia. It is true that the men who 
now strike out in front of the lengthening lines, and 
plunge into the unknown that lurks beyond railhead, need 
no longer — except in the rarest instances — trouble their 
heads about the possibility of Indian attack. But this 
particular peril has never loomed very large in the South 
American railway world. Fever has claimed a thousand 
victims where the Indians of the center and north have 
scarcely succeeded in murdering one. Among the bones 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 519 

of those who have died of yellow fever, blackwater, beri- 
beri, and the like, the few skull trophies which have hung 
in the forest dwellings of the Indians would indeed be as 
needles among haystacks ! 

The task of the British railway engineer in South Amer- 
ica has always been a difficult one compared with that of 
the other employers of out-door labor. The British 
estanciero in the river Plate countries has its local peones 
to work for him, and, if he remain ignorant of their tem- 
peramental peculiarities, the fault is his own. The same 
applies to the owners of Chilean, Peruvian, or Bolivian 
haciendas, to the Brazilian coffee and sugar planters, and, 
in fact, to the employer of agricultural and mining labor 
throughout the continent. 

But the railway construction engineer, although he is 
at least as much concerned with labor as any of these, is 
in a very difficult case. It is his fate to be always in 
command of scratch labor crews. He is largely at the 
mercy of labor conditions in other parts of the continent, 
and even of the world in general. It is part of his ''job" 
to adapt himself to the peculiarities of white, mestizo, 
yellow and black labor. Than this nothing can impose 
a severer test of his powers of leadership and diplomacy. 

When the line is completed, and the engineer glides to 
and fro along it in the private car that is his second home, 
he is doubtless an object of envy to many. But it may 
be taken for granted that he has deserved every square 
inch of this luxury, and is still earning it ! 

We may now revert to the infancy of this great British 
railway enterprise in South America. One of the most 
remarkable men who had to do with its birth was William 
Wheelwright. It was the State of Massachusetts that 
saw Wheelwright's birth in 1798, but it was in London 
that he died seventy-five years later. So much of his 
astonishing initiative and vigor was employed in the serv- 
ice of the British that considerably more than a passing 
reference is due to him in these pages. 



520 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

From the records of the rapidly budding South Amer- 
ican industries of the early and mid-nineteenth century 
Wheelwright's name flashes out over and over again — 
and nearly always from the very summit of some monu- 
mental conception of the world of enterprise. 

Concessions of vast importance seemed to drop as plen- 
tifully as blackberries into Wheelwright's mouth. At 
least such traces of his work as crop up might well give 
this impression to the casual follower of these records — 
who may not be aware that a valuable concession is not 
the kind of fruit that falls ! Most decidedly it has to be 
climbed for, and picked ! 

But Wheelwright must not for one moment be con- 
fused with the ordinary concession-hunter, notwith- 
standing his marked success in this direction — ^which, 
after all was only the logical result of his general abilities. 
It was Wheelwright who, assisted by the Chilean and 
Peruvian governments, as we have already seen, founded 
the Pacific Steam Navigation Company. It was Wheel- 
wright who obtained in Argentina the concessions for the 
Ensenada Railway, the Rosario and Cordoba railway, the 
Central Argentine railway, and numerous other enter- 
prises of the kind. But Wheelwright achieved more than 
this. His name has a great claim on posterity as being 
that of the founder of the first railway in South America. 
This was the Chilean line between Caldera and Copiapo, 
which was opened on Christmas Day, 1852, the first loco- 
motive on the system being driven by an engineer of the 
name of 'Donovan. 

This venture met with hearty support from the Chilean 
notabilities. To those acquainted with the names of the 
Chilean aristocracy this will be clear when the following 
list of shareholders is given : Gallo, Edwards, Carvallo, 
Subercaseaux, Varas, Vega, Tocornal, Cifuentes, Montt, 
Carril, Cousino, the last shareholder being Wheelwright 
himself. 

The Senor Edwards, it may be mentioned, whose name 




FOREST CLEARING IN SOUTH AMERICA 




RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH AMERICA 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 521 

appears second in the list, was tlae son of an English gen- 
tleman who took part on the Chilean side in the war of 
liberation, and became a Chilean. The latter 's great 
grandson is Senor Agnstin Edwards, the well-known 
Chilean statesman, and the present highly esteemed min- 
ister-plenipotentiary in London. 

Wheelwright 's talents were not confined to the business 
side of his profession, although he afterwards became a 
partner of Mr. (afterwards Lord) Brassey's, the firm be- 
ing known as Brassey, Withes, and Wheelwright. His 
scientific attainments were marked, and he was an expert 
in territory. Thus in 1860, in his character of F.R.G.S. 
we find him reading to the Eoyal Geographical Society a 
paper on a proposed railway across the Andes, from 
Caldera to Eosario via Cordoba. It is said to have been 
Wheelwright himself, moreover, who discovered the 
Chilean coal field at Talcahuano, which has subsequently 
played so important a part in the steam traffic of these 
regions. 

Possibly Wheelwright's fame as an industrial pioneer 
is wider than I suspect. It is true that Valparaiso has 
raised a statue to him, and that his name is familiar 
enough in Chilean print — there are some excellent notes 
concerning him in Senor Santiago Marin Vicuna's Los 
Ferrocarriles de Chile. But it is surprising how seldom 
his name occurs in English books, and how many indexes 
one may ransack for a reference to him, only to draw 
blank ! 

It is not a little remarkable that in a hermit state such 
as was Paraguay in the middle of the nineteenth century 
railway enterprise should have begun as early as the year 
1854. In that year the most genial of Paraguay's three 
autocrats, Carlos Antonio Lopez, ordered that his coun- 
try was to be provided with railways. Three British 
engineers, Messrs. Burrel, Valpy and Padison were en- 
gaged for the purpose, and, in order that the construction 
might be conducted on the accepted Paraguayan model of 



522 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the mid-nineteenth century, three battalions of infantry 
were placed at their disposal to act as navvies. 

As a result, some seventy-two kilometres of rail had 
been laid in 1861, when the line was opened from Asuncion 
as far as Paraguari. The advent to power of Francisco 
Solano Lopez brought about a period of war which inter- 
rupted all such enterprise, and it was not until 1886 that 
work was resumed on the line. 

Little by little the network of railway lines extended 
itself over South America. The following report, pub- 
lished by Mr. C. Frederic Woodgate in 1877, will show the 
beginning of various of the companies in Argentina, the 
chief railway country in the Continent. 

In 1877 the situation of the Argentina railways was as 
follows : 

Work Miles Proprietors 

'begun 

Western 1857 150 Provincial Government 

of Buenos Aires (aft- 
erwards British). 

Northern 1862 18 London Company, 

Great Southern 1864 202 London Company. 

Boca and Ensenada 1863 37 London Company. 

Central Argentine 1863 245 London Company. 

Villa Maria and Rio 

Cuarto 1870 82 National government. 

Cordova and Tueuman . . 1873 336 National government. 

Rio Cuarto and Mercedes. 1873 76 National government. 

Eastern Argentine 1873 96 London Company. 

Buenos Aires and Cam- 

pana 1873 42 London Company. 

The first of these, the Western Railway was begun un- 
der distinctly modest auspices so far as capital is con- 
cerned. A sum of £28,000 sufficed to start the venture, 
an amount to which the Argentine Government subse- 
quently added the loan of the equivalent of £24,000. In 
1864 we find the officials claiming with pride that the 
trains on their system frequently carried over three thou- 



IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 523 

sand passengers in a single day — an estimate that might 
cause some chagrin to the managers of to-day ! 

Incidentally it may be remarked that, as a result of the 
construction of this line, some of the land through which 
it passed increased in value fifty-fold. At a later date, 
after the Great Southern Eailway had opened the south- 
ern Buenos Aires country which General Koca had freed 
from the Indian peril, land which had been obtainable 
for £70 the square league less than eight years afterwards 
was worth £3,000 the league ! 

It was in the 1870 's that some of the most notable 
strides were undertaken in the great public services 
throughout South America. Even before this, however, 
the little Eepublic of Uruguay had made its first ac- 
quaintance with the iron road. The first railway to be 
opened here was the Central Uruguay. This was begun 
in 1868, and a short section of eleven miles was already 
being worked in 1869. 

Four years later, in 1873, the British turned their at- 
tention to the north of the continent, and built the first 
railway in Venezuela. This was known as the Bolivar 
Railway, and was originally constructed to connect the 
to^vn of Tucacas with the copper mines of Aroa. The 
line was subsequently extended to Barquisimeto. 

Incidentally, too, it may be remarked that it was at this 
period that the complementary public services came into 
being. Thus the first South American cable was laid in 
1874. It connected Lisbon with Pernambuco, and its 
3,866 miles ran by way of Madeira and St. Vincent. By 
the year 1877, moreover, a proof of the strides of the 
young tramway industry was evident in Buenos Aires, 
where the British Companies owned a length of fifty-four 
miles, of tram-lines, on which about one hundred cars 
were working; 

It is quite out of the question to attempt to deal here 
with the more recent progress of the British owned rail- 
ways in South America. Some of the feats, it is true. 



624 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

are of world-wide importance. The linking up of Buenos 
Aires with Valparaiso — and consequently, of the Atlantic 
with the Pacific — the establishment of railway communica- 
tion between Rio and Brazil and Montevideo in Uruguay ; 
between Buenos Aires and Asuncion, the capital of Para- 
guay ; the construction of the famous Oroza railway, which 
crosses the Peruvian Andes at a height of nearly sixteen 
thousand feet; the successful completion of the remark- 
able Madeira-Mamore railway, the pet project of that 
most worthy North American successor of Wheelwright, 
Colonel Church, by which the terrors of a fever-laden 
series of Amazonian torrents were for ever done away 
with — these alone are achievements which have called into 
being some of the greatest engineering skill of the age, to 
say nothing of the assistance of such ambitious instru- 
ments as steam ferries for the conveyance of trains across 
rivers, and similar undertakings by means of which the 
more stupendous stretches of nature have been harnessed. 
Much the same may be said of the port-works, river 
traffic, and municipal undertakings in which the British 
have specialized. A book might comfortably be written 
on each subject, and, indeed, so far as the amount of print 
is concerned, many have been! 



CHAPTER XXVI 

TO-DAY AND TO-MOKEOW IN SOUTH AMERICA 

The Work of the British in the Continent — Financial achievements — Man- 
ner in which the efforts have been carried out — Policy of the British 
from the Elizabethan Age onwards — Relations with the South Amer- 
icans — The latter's experiences of the Englishman as an enemy and as 
a friend — The Prussian Alfinger — Tastes of the South Americans — 
Some matters of appreciation — Confidence between the Iberians and 
the British — Guiana and the Falklands — Progress of British trade — 
Ratio of increase compared with that of Germany — Reasons for a 
specious growth and real decline — Philosophy of the British manu- 
facturer — ^His relations with his agents abroad — Questions of market- 
ing goods — Some artificial disadvantages — Necessity of organization 
on a large scale — An instance in the shipping world — Result of retalia- 
tory measures — The British commercial traveler in South America — 
Suggestions concerning a suitable type of man — The intimate history 
of a warship contract — The Englishman not an opportunist — Advan- 
tages and disadvantages of this circumstance — Teutonic national ma- 
chinery employed in support of commerce — The value of official flattery 
— Necessity for British organization on a comprehensive scale — Ques- 
tions of diplomacy and diplomats — ^Suggestions concerning a special 
type of attache — Evidences of German prosperity in South America — 
Latin-American sentiment — Opinions of a Brazilian merchant — Prob- 
able future German commercial campaign — ^The North Americans as 
competitors — Relations of these with the Latin Americans — South 
America and British imperial preference — Britain's task as an ally. 

IN reviewing the work of the British in South America 
it is fortunately unnecessary to enter into a maze of 
statistics. These have been so clearly set out in doz- 
ens of publications, official and otherwise, that any mass 
of detail would not justify its passage in this particular 
prose .vehicle. 

Briefly, very nearly one hundred years ago two or three 
million pounds passed from Lombard Street to the newly 
founded South American States. This financial assist- 
ance came to them when they were still in the act of reel- 
ing to their feet, and before the smoke of the War of In- 
dependence had finally rolled clear of the Continent. 

525 



526 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

To-day the British investments in South America prob- 
ably amount to some seven hundred millions sterling. 
On the face of it, this situation might well seem not 
merely satisfactory, but triumphant. In many respects 
it justifies the first adjective; but the second, I think, 
could apply only if the rest of the world had remained 
impassive spectators of our industry as we piled up our 
interests and securities in the great Latin continent. 

There is, moreover, another view of the question, which 
has so far been ventilated by our enemies rather than by 
ourselves, but which is by no means unworthy of atten- 
tion. A boat may be rowed for seven hundred miles up a 
river to a point where the tiring oarsmen slacken and 
fail: then it will be of merely historic consolation to the 
inmates to reflect that, the farther upstream the craft 
has won its way, the more numerous are the down-river 
reaches along which it has to drift. 

But this pessimistic metaphor is premature, certainly 
in this chapter, and probably in the world of affairs. It 
is essential in the first place to see by what means the 
British progress in South America has been achieved, 
from its earliest beginnings to the present day. We 
at once find ourselves confronted by a remarkable chain 
of events, every one of which illustrates the desultory na- 
ture of both our hostilities and friendly undertakings in 
South America. Almost all our achievements there have 
been the work of free lances. This has been so since the 
days of Elizabeth, who on the one hand gave Drake god- 
speed and scarfs embroidered with well-wishes, and on 
the other condoled with Philip of Spain on the deeds of 
her irrepressible sailors! The policy of James, feebly 
parodying the vigorous partnership of Elizabeth, gave a 
grim end to Raleigh. Later, many an honest sailor had 
to take his chance whether he were regarded by Spain as 
a lawful enemy, a dubious privateer, or a wholly damnable 
bucaneer. His mutable status depended on the course 
of the relations between England and Spain — a kaleido- 



TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 527 

scopic procession of sentiments concerning which he, 
afloat in the Southern oceans, could not be expected to 
keep himself posted. The dawn itself of the freedom of 
Spanish South America was heralded by a stroke of this 
same free-lance policy. For the successes and disasters 
of the British invasion of the Rio de la Plata in 1806 — 
which played so notable a part in instilling the idea of 
independence into the South American mind — were the 
result of an inspiration on the part of the British naval 
commander, Sir Home Popham, who found himself with 
some ships and troops to spare after the capture of Cape 
Town. 

The War of Liberation itself affords a final instance of 
the consistently impassive official attitude toward South 
America. At that period the British Government, main- 
taining a correct neutrality, provided nothing beyond a 
benevolent sympathy. The British sailors and soldiers 
who enlisted in the patriot cause provided themselves; 
and such men as Cochrane, Guise, Miller, O'Brien, and 
some scores of others, found that their own Government's 
attitude toward them partook of the Nelsonian touch of 
refusing to observe what ought not to be seen ! 

It was only natural that the first trading relations of 
the British with the South Americans should have been of 
an individual nature. The commercial world was loosely 
knit in those days, and it was in the age when private in- 
itiative counted that the prospering British coached the 
South Americans from the status of pupils to that of 
colleagues. 

England had well earned her considerable early ad- 
vantages over her European and North American rivals. 
Her political and militant sympathies, her golden assist- 
ance, and the advent of a swarm of merchants conveying 
cargoes of merchandise — all this while the yellow and red 
of the Spanish standard was still floating over the last 
remnant of royal territory, the castles of Callao — had 
won for the British a place in the esteem of the South 



528 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Americans that no subsequent international vicissitudes 
have succeeded in destroying. It was in cordial circum- 
stances that the British merchant introduced his machin- 
ery, his hard and soft ware, his live stgck, and his liquids, 
and shipped home in their place hides, horns, metals, 
sugar, coffee, and the general produce of the Continent; 
for, since the sentiments of Brazil resembled those of 
the former Spanish colonies, it is with the entire con- 
tinent that we are now concerned. It was surely one of 
the anomalies of statesmanship that gained for England 
the simultaneous gratitude of Brazil and the Spanish- 
speaking States. She had assisted the former in her 
step from a royal colony to a kingdom ; she had aided the 
latter to divest themselves of royalty and its influence by 
becoming republics! The explanation is a simple one. 
These divergent processes had the same effect: that of 
throwing open the South American ports to the trade of 
the world. 

As the intercourse between the British and the South 
Americans increased, other links beyond those of com- 
merce began to be forged. It is the fashion to accuse the 
Englishman abroad of the unsocial crime of keeping him- 
self to himself. This, I think, must apply in a far lesser 
degree to South America than to any other part of the 
world. There is no doubt that the average Englishman 
in South America entertains an affection for that con- 
tinent and its inhabitants deeper than the inevitable re- 
gard with which the successful man contemplates the 
source of his wealth. Intermarriage has been frequent : 
common interests in sports, games, pastoral, and ag- 
ricultural occupations have led to an intimate under- 
standing. 

Thus we arrive at the general relations of the present 
day. Without an over-indulgence in complacency, they 
may be said to be very satisfactory. The average Eng- 
lishman is aware that he does not sound the tempera- 
mental depths of the average South American; on the 



TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 529 

other hand, the average South American has a much 
shrewder conception of the Englishman than the latter 
suspects. It is true that for generations the man of Iber- 
ian stock took some pleasure in referring to the North- 
erner as the loco Ingles — the mad Englishman. But the 
adjective, emitted in jocular resignation, was devoid of 
sting; for at all times the Iberian considered the other an 
honest loco, and now for more than a generation he has 
joined him in his madness — in almost all its forms, from 
hygiene and social clubs to the cult of balls ! Moreover, 
is not the word of an Englishman — Palabra de un Inglez! 
— an oath in itself? Is not the expression Hora Inglessa 
an appeal to punctuality? 

And — still regarding the situation from the point of 
view of the South American — ^he has been able to judge 
of the Englishman as an enemy; no mean test of a man's 
worth. When Whitelock's ill-fated expedition left the 
shores of the river Plate, the Government of the invaded 
territories had already bcome national rather than vice- 
regal. It was as South Americans that the city fathers 
of Montevideo offered that generous tribute to the de- 
parting British troops, an address that acknowledged 
with spontaneous warmth the chivalry of the army of oc- 
cupation, and that went the length of expressing regret 
for its departure! A fine testimonial this — one which 
would not have been applied, say, to the Prussian Alfinger, 
who, assisting in the sixteen-century Welser colonization 
of the Continent, made a practice, when on the march, of 
cutting off the heads of dying members of the Indian 
slave-gangs, whose necks were chained to a common steel 
rod, and by this practical method prevented any senti- 
mental delay in the progress of the party ! 

This Alfinger of unsavory memory, dragged in here 
somewhat by his grim and ghastly heels, opens up in a 
not inappropriate fashion one of the main objects of this 
chapter — the question of the respective relations with the 
South Americans of ourselves, and of our keenest com- 



^ 



,H 



530 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

petitors, the Germans. Let us start in a key that is 
justifiably buoyant! As regards mere popularity, it 
seems to me that we have little to fear. The piece of 
eight played its part in the temporary lease of part of 
Venezuela to the Prussian Welsers, and it is very little 
beyond a common interest in the dollar which is respon- 
sible for the association of South American and German 
to-day. An inherent and unquenchable antagonism exists 
between the arrogance of the Prussian and the easy de- 
mocracy of the South American. One very clear proof 
of this exists. In largely increasing numbers the South 
American has taken to visiting Paris and Cannes, London 
and Eastbourne, Switzerland, Norway, and Egypt; but 
— for his own pleasure — never Berlin ! The lists of Eton 
and other schools now include a number of South Ameri- 
cans — but to what German school does any South Ameri- 
can boy go for the building up of his character and tone ? 
Those who have visited Teutonic technical colleges have 
done so for technical purposes. 

Surely, since every straw counts, we may even take 
some pride in having induced the South American to 
follow our lead in such matters as clothes, games, and 
household arrangements. I have had the honor of din- 
ing en petit comite with the late President of Argentina 
— an old member of the Devonshire Club — when the serv- 
ice was carried out by maidservants in English caps and 
aprons. Now is not this in its way as high a compliment 
as any other? 

The volatile Iberian — as sturdy in his own way as any 
other race of the earth — has, we flatter ourselves, a stanch 
belief in the good faith of the British. On this head 
we have every right to sound a trumpet blast or two, 
for in this case the proof of the pudding has been our 
willingness to respect its plums! The Iberian is noth- 
ing if not a student of history, and he remembers. What 
of Madeira? Have we not twice occupied, and volun- 
tarily restored that tempting, pleasant, and strategically 




TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 531 

important island? Then there are the Falkland Islands. 
Has an Argentine statesman lost a single ministerial wink 
of sleep on account of our possession of these hills and 
pastures in the South Atlantic? What of Guiana, too 
— a colony that, logically, should be deeply unpopular in 
the Southern continent, since it is one of the last two 
remaining appanages of royalty on the republican main- 
land? Nevertheless, British Guiana, a tranquil neigh- 
bor to the north of the Latin republics, provokes no 
shriek even from Monroe's sensitive eagle. But — if 
Raleigh's territory had been Prussian! The South 
Americans are sufficiently alert to conceive the length of 
the tentacles of intrigue that would have wriggled south- 
wards across the Continent ! 

In fairness to the Englishman it must be said that 
during a hundred years not only has he maintained his 
relations with the inhabitants of the various South Amer- 
ican republics, he has improved them. 

At this point we must leave the bright side of the pic- 
,^ure. These justifiable trumpet blasts bring us to the 
/threshold of a startling and unpleasant anomaly. Dur- 
ing these recent decades, while this mutual cordiality has 
increased, and the British have enjoyed sentimental ad- 
vantages over every nationality save the Latins, the pro- 
portion of British trade compared with that of the rest 
of the world has decreased ! That it should decrease to 
a certain extent was inevitable — ^but the shrinkage that 
has actually occurred has been beyond reasonable expec- 
tation ! 

It would hardly seem that the point is a debatable one 
— though there are some who profess themselves satisfied 
with the mere fact that our trade with South America 
has not been stagnant, and who even rejoice in an in- 
crease in our exports such as could only be received with 
legitimate satisfaction had the rest of the world stood 
still in the meantime. Such a frame of mind will not, I 
think, bear much investigation. 



532 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

There is no need to plunge here into any of the count- 
less statistics which are available on the subject : we may 
take our exports to Brazil as a typical example. In 1875 
we sent to Brazil practically as much as all the rest of the 
world put together. To-day our proportion of the goods 
shipped to Brazil is some twenty-five per cent. Since it 
is clearly unreasonable that Great Britain should expect 
to continue to rival the bulk of the rest of the world's 
trade, there would be less reason for complaint concern- 
ing these figures had the bulk of the increased exports 
to Brazil been divided in a normal fashion among the 
other nations. But this is not so. In 1875 the German 
exports to Brazil amounted barely to an eighth of our 
own, but in rather more than twenty years she had 
increased these figures tenfold, while Great Britain 
during this period had rather more than doubled her 
exports. 

Germany's gains, of course, have not continued in this 
phenomenal ratio, or, instead of maintaining the lead, 
Great Britain would have lost her predominant position 
many years ago. Nevertheless, the general advance of 
the Germans in exports and the control of industrial en- 
terprise has continued far in excess of our own. Viewed 
in this light, our trade advance in South America loses 
much of its glamour. It appears only too clearly as a lag- 
ging behind, which, if the existing trend be continued for 
long enough, must end in collapse ; for who now can doubt 
that the ultimate aim of the German commercial policy in 
South America has been, not division, but the annihilation 
of the non-Teutonic! 

Moreover, the actual process must be far more rapid 
than any promised by mere statistics ; for there comes a 
stage in commercial war when strategic advantages have 
a cumulative effect. Then the resistance is apt to crum- 
ble like the atoms of an undermined sand-castle when the 
waters have ceased to nibble, and begin to devour! 

It is possible, apart from the circumstances of the war, 




BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH AMERICA 




VIADUCT CONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH AMERICA 



TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 533 

that this aggressive policy has led Germany to the verge 
of bankruptcy, as some allege. Even so, that would not 
return to us the volume of past trade that the policy has 
lost us. 

There must be serious reasons for this specious growth 
and real decline which during the last quarter of a cen- 
tury has occurred in the face of a favoring situation. 
There would seem to be two main causes. The first has 
already created a certain amount of attention : the refusal 
of many British manufacturers to adapt themselves to a 
rapidly altering condition of affairs. The second has at- 
tracted less notice, but is, I think, as important in its own 
way as the first. This is the continuance of that free- 
lance policy of individual effort that, as I have tried to 
show, harks back to the days of Hawkins and Drake. 
Surely under present conditions this is as obsolete as the 
walls of England that once were of wood. Pitted against 
the scientifically combined groups of highly organized 
competitors, its working must resemble the performance 
of a scratch Association football team against the 
mathematical precision of a tried professional eleven. 

Let us consider the former of these two main causes. 
The obstinacy of many British manufacturers would seem 
to be a thing of comparatively recent growth — ^probably a 
fungus on the tree of easy prosperity. Those who care 
to peruse the experiences of the British travelers in South 
America from the end of the first decade of the nine- 
teenth century up to rather more than a generation ago 
cannot fail to be struck by the copious notes and inky 
exclamations as the author describes the picturesque 
knives and quaintly romantic spurs that come from Shef- 
field ; the bizarre fabrics, redolent of palm-trees, guitars, 
and starry nights, that were Lancashire's contribution 
to the South, and a hundred other articles of the kind. 
Doubtless a shoddy species of trade, this, but at least 
eloquent of enterprise and ingenuity ! 

One is occasionally tempted to wonder if the German 



534 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

of to-day be not in the mood of the Mid- Victorian English- 
man — minus the latter 's sporting propensities and con- 
science, and plus the Prussian cynical contempt of any 
divine or human convention which might limit his chances 
of success ! 

Certainly the Mid- Victorian manufacturer would not 
have accepted the present-day situation with that resigna- 
tion — approaching indifference — evinced by his succes- 
sor. In the course of time certain British articles have 
gone by the board in South America, pushed aside by 
natural forces. It was the climate that gave light Ger- 
man beers the victory over the English ales that once 
flooded the Continent — a loss to the British that was sub- 
sequently more than retrieved by the triumph of whisky. 
Such circumstances are not to be overcome ; but unavoid- 
able disasters of this particular kind have been very few 
and far between in the history of British trade with South 
America. 

Of recent years it is only too lamentable to observe how 
frequently the relations between the British manufacturer 
and his agent abroad resemble those between a motionless 
mule and a dispirited goad. The manufacturer is in- 
clined to be complacent and trite ; the agent tends to be- 
come irritated and bitter. Which of the two has reason 
on his side? Not, I think, the manufacturer. It may 
appear a poor calling to attempt to point out to a com- 
munity how unjustified is its content with its situation. 
Nevertheless in this case the microbe of dissatisfaction is 
a healthy one, and the sooner it is injected the better for 
the manufacturer. It is not too much to ask of him that 
he should put his customer 's wants before his own views, 
that he should supply to Brazil axes of a steel tempered 
to fell the tropical iron-wood instead of the English oak ; 
that he should discover which cloth is popular in Lima, 
and which in London ! Does it savor of an unreasonable 
pessimism to assert that, unless he act on some such prin- 
ciples as these, that craft of his, which his very deliberate 



TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 535 

paddling now just succeeds in propelling upstream, will 
be swept rapidly down the current? 

Let us suppose, then, the very reasonable supposition 
that we are in a position to supply the South American 
(whose sentiments do not interfere with his desire to 
purchase in the cheapest and most practical market) with 
the type of goods he requires, on terms as favorable as 
those offered by our neighbors — if we fail in this, is there 
any special providence available to produce some super- 
natural reason why we should not shut up shop ? Let us 
suppose, further, that we, as sellers, will in our accounts 
yield to the decimal system, to the local customs, cur- 
rency, and prejudices, and render all the other minor 
matters concessions by the non-observance of which we 
have voluntarily handicapped our trade. What has hap- 
pened when we have achieved this? — We have merely 
placed ourselves on a footing of equality with our com- 
petitors. The actual fight to maintain our proper position 
in the South American trading world is still before us. 

We may now turn to the second of the two main causes 
of the present unsatisfactory position of British trade 
with South America. I have tried to show that in the 
days of individual competition and British manufacturing 
enterprise — the period of ''notions"! — ^nearly all the cir- 
cumstances were in favor of the British. The subsequent 
introduction of the great industrial combinations such as 
are in existence to-day has tended toward the undermin- 
ing of these advantages. Only on rare occasions have 
the British organized their resources on a wholesale scale 
to oppose the trusts that sprang up in the United States, 
and that were imitated in Germany. Where they have, 
success has followed. But for the great shipping coop- 
eration effected by Sir Owen Philipps, who can doubt but 
that the grim and determined onslaught of the German 
shipowners would have ended in the fluttering of the Eed 
Ensign over fewer and smaller decks than is at present 
the case? As it is, the stand has been made in the face 



536 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

of a hundred tricks, such as that of a local method of 
tonnage calculation tending in the announcements to in- 
flate the dimensions of the German ships at the expense 
of the British, and other dubious measures of this 
kind. 

It would seem that an axiom in success in the South 
America of to-day is that an undertaking should not only 
be efficient, but on a large scale: witness the deserved 
triumph of the British railway methods in that continent ! 
A lesser instance is to be met with in the success which 
attended the foundation of the large British stores in 
Buenos Aires. There are times when it is necessary to 
think imperially — outside the bounds of our own empire ! 
I cannot help supposing that, had the British meat-chill- 
ing companies been imbued more liberally with this spirit, 
the Stars and Stripes would not have won so rapid a 
victory on the banks of the river Plate. But this need 
of combination now seems so clear, and it is one which is 
raising itself with such emphasis before the captains of 
the British industries, that it is surely not necessary to 
lay any prolonged stress upon it here. The benefits of an 
alert resistance have been proved over and over again, in 
minor, as well as in major, matters. Indeed, it is usually 
only in minor matters that a definite and patent result is 
available. For an instance of this I must turn again to 
the leading British steamship association which serves 
South America. 

It happened some time ago that the agent of this asso- 
ciation at one of the western European ports noticed 
that the agent of the rival German line was making a 
practice of endowing the poster-pictures of his steamers 
with one funnel beyond the number that they actually 
possessed. Unimportant though the exaggeration may 
appear to the layman, it was by no means without its 
method. How deeply the simple but profitable Iberian 
steerage passenger is impressed by such pictures will be 
realized when it is explained that on one occasion a num- 



TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 537 

ber refused to sail on a certain vessel that did not boast 
as many funnels as shown in the stock illustration printed 
on the ticket — although the despised vessel happened to 
be one of the largest in the service. 

The British agent, aware of its significance, proceeded 
to counter his rival's method. New posters showed the 
vessels of his line with one funnel more than those de- 
picted on the German sheets. When the Teutonic agent 
had rubbed his eyes at the sight he hastily called his 
posters in, and replaced them by others upon which tow- 
ered two funnels more than on the last. He had, in fact, 
gone one better: but his improvement was once again 
excelled by his alert competitor. The affair continued un- 
til the pictured British hulls groaned beneath the weight 
of, I believe, seven enormous funnels ! 

On this the German agent, in despair, appealed to his 
head office in Prussia to intervene — ^in order to make an 
end to this spectacular rivalry which he himself had in- 
troduced ! As a result of negotiations between the com- 
panies a truce in imaginative posters was proclaimed, and 
the respective pictures began again to sail under their 
proper funnels. But this object-lesson has led us some 
way from the two great issues under discussion. 

Out of these two issues, enterprise and combination, 
arises a third which in its own way is every whit as im- 
portant. It is one which involves the forsaking of gen- 
eralities and a survey of some of the more intimate de- 
tails of our trade with the South Americans. We have 
been taking into consideration the question of the com- 
parative values of goods and industrial services. The 
most cursory study of these must lead to the conclusion 
that the rewards of unadvertised sterling merit are 
largely confined to fiction. It may savor of smugness to 
assert that in the past we have relied too largely on merit 
and not sufficiently on advertisement in the widest sense of 
the word. Yet I believe that this has been so in the com- 
mercial world of buying and selling — in some branches of 



538 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

which the goods would seem to have sold themselves in 
spite of the methods adopted to sell them ! 

At the present juncture the commercial traveler repre- 
sents one of the most important personages in the South 
American commercial problem. It is only quite recently 
that we have begun to employ men sufficiently well- 
equipped by education and training for a field that is the 
richest in the world, and at the same time the most liber- 
ally garnished with pitfalls. South America is the blue 
ribbon of the selling world. The commercial traveler ap- 
pointed there should stand in the same relation toward 
his brethren of the home trade that an ambassador does 
to the most modest vice-consul. My own definition of the 
type of commercial traveler fitted for the South American 
trade of to-day may sound didactic, even startling, but 
here it is. He should, I think, be of the public school 
type, whose subsequent university career has been sacri- 
ficed to a study of French, Spanish, and Portuguese. 
Trouble should be taken in his initiation into his pro- 
fession. He should be properly coached concerning the 
men and matters of the countries that are to be his field. 
Finally, he should be trained to chase an order as keenly 
as his father followed hounds in the wake of the gamest 
fox! Is this recipe for a modern South American com- 
mercial traveler made up on Utopian lines? I do not 
think so. It is merely a question of salary and profes- 
sional status, both of which would arrange themselves in 
such circumstances. I am convinced, from encounters 
in South American travels, that this is a perfectly feasible 
and practicable person in real life, but on this canvas it is 
only possible to sketch him on the broadest lines. 

Of late years the most important English companies 
when competing for large contracts have acknowledged 
the merits of this policy up to the point of sending out 
men of real eminence in their professions. But this has 
been principally on account of the necessity for an author- 
itative opinion where important technical points are con- 



TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 639 

cerned, such as in contracts for warships, harbor-works, 
and the like. 

Even in such affairs as these expert knowledge and 
merit are not invariably successful against the more pirat- 
ical type of salesman. The following history of a war- 
ship deal will illustrate this. I had the story from the 
successful agent himself in the flush of his triumph — ^but, 
needless to say, not before the matter had been signed and 
sealed beyond redemption. No pledge of secrecy is in- 
volved ; nevertheless I will not describe his nationality — 
save to say of it that it was neither British nor German 
— nor the republic in which the affair occurred, nor is it 
necessary to state whether the vessels concerned were 
dreadnoughts or torpedo-boats ! 

The story smacks rather of the popular fiction than of 
the actualities of South America. But its transparent 
truth has been borne out by subsequent events. 

A number of warship-builders' agents had assembled 
in South America, to compete for a contract. As it hap- 
pened, in the ministry of the republic concerned was a 
minister whose financial morality belonged to an era 
of the Continent that is no longer normal in the pro- 
gressive republics. One of the competing agents, having 
succeeded in interesting him directly from the monetary 
point of view, obtained the promise of the contract. 
When the agreement came up for ratification, it became 
clear on the face of it to the other ministers that the 
business was a tainted one. They desired to quash the 
entire negotiation. But the agent stuck to his guns. If 
the contract were not ratified, he threatened, he would 
publish the incriminating letters which the erring min- 
ister had ingenuously written to him! The agent held 
firm even against the interference of a most efficient chief 
of police, whose warnings and life were cut short by an 
anarchist bomb — a catastrophe that helped the agent to 
win the day. In the end the authorities, realizing that the 
reputation of the cabinet was at stake, and that the days 



540 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

had gone by when this sort of scandal could be endured 
with impunity, gave in — and England lost the contract. 

It is not often that one is favored with the tranquil 
narration of such facts as these at first hand! This 
inner history of a warship contract may, or may not, be 
known to the British firms who competed at the time. I 
do not introduce it here as a model for the policy of the 
British agents! Viewing the matter quite apart from 
its moral aspects, it is no easier to bribe a minister in 
the advanced South American States than it would be in 
England. But it may serve as an illustration of the 
thousand and one situations which British agents must 
be prepared to face — situations which naturally grow in 
variety as the less advanced countries are entered. 

The average Englishman may find some difficulty in 
combating this particular species of difficulty, since we 
may take it that, following a settled and deeply ingrained 
policy, he is not in general an opportunist. This is an 
important factor in the political and commercial situa- 
tion ; for this lack of opportunism has its advantages as 
well as its drawbacks. A South American knows that a 
saddle bought from an Englishman will be of leather, and 
not of paper. It does not matter whether the reason be 
that the seller's father made leather saddles before him, 
and that, like the American of fable, he is too lazy to 
stop running when once he has started ! The saddle will 
be of leather, and the South American is deeply appre- 
ciative of this fact. He welcomes this want of oppor- 
tunism as warmly as he does another instance of it — the 
failure to alight like a bird of prey into the midst of a 
South American political crisis, and to make capital out 
of local embarrassment. 

This brings us again to the consideration of our most 
formidable rival in South America. In our commercial 
struggle with Germany we are confronted with a state of 
affairs which carries us beyond the fundamental problems 
of the quality of the goods and the capability of the seller. 



TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 541 

Granted that — ^by the simple means of taking trouble — it 
is in our power not only to rival Germany but eventually 
to outdo her in both these respects, we are by no means 
at the end of our difficulties. Our commercial efforts 
have recently been made to labor under an entirely new 
set of specially created and formidable disadvantages. 
We find ourselves opposed by a Teutonic flame of energy 
which is fanned by a species of forced draft. It is of 
enormous importance to scrutinize this system which has 
now become part and parcel of the German predatory 
trade. If we fail to grasp this we might well find our- 
selves in the position of a bowler who, having placed nine 
crack fieldsmen to the right of the wicket, bowls to leg! 
The German merchant or agent now forms an atom in 
one of the most scientific organizations that the world 
has ever seen. The entire Teutonic national machinery is 
driving to assist in pushing a lighting or tramway con- 
tract, or the sale of a razor, or a spoon ! Eealizing that 
commerce is the guiding star, in the relations between 
Europe and South America, Germany has thrown into 
the struggle every ounce of her official strength. Does 
a South American army require training in the latest 
military ideas'? The Prussian Government is delighted 
to send a score of officers at a moment's notice. The rec- 
ommendations of the Prussian soldiers, once installed, 
concerning military weapons and stores, will not be un- 
favorable to the German manufacturers. An imposing 
German warship is always prepared to make a special 
parade in the South American ports, and no banquet or 
any other social function is too costly to oil a creaking 
commercial wheel ! A cordial imperial telegram is occa- 
sionally at the service of a private deal — if sufficiently 
important — and imperial cups for regattas have been 
found pretty successful in the way of business. Of re- 
cent years the average German minister plenipotentiary 
in South America has resolved his uniformed personality 
into that of an arch-commercial traveler. He has become 



542 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

an intriguing concession hunter, who has succeeded in 
dressing up rather shady commercial procedure in a 
cocked hat, and stars, and spurs — very much to the benefit 
of the financial results, and to the outraging of the ethics 
of legitimate diplomacy. The law in England may be a 
*'hass"; diplomacy in Germany is certainly a jackal! 

There is no denying the commercial value of telegrams, 
decorations, audiences, and special embassies, when em- 
anating from a sufficiently exalted source. Organized 
flattery may be wearisome labor, but it is profitable 
policy. It is one in which the modern German special- 
izes. I chanced to meet with a salient instance even in 
Norway when, the summer before the first year of the 
war, the fiords were heavily infested with the vessels of 
the German fleet. As one or two of the battle-ships were 
about to depart from a small port, it was noticeable that 
the sailors, waiting for the launches which were to convey 
them to the ships, had been provided with little Nor- 
wegian flags. These they waved in a fashion so patently 
to order that it was rather ludicrous to watch. It was a 
piece of drill to them! But it was an object-lesson to 
the spectator. 

What have we to pit against an organization that will 
back a contract, a convenient revolution, or a friendship 
of state, with a thoroughness that includes all things from 
calculated terrorism to the waving of toy flags? Some 
thousands of able British business men, some hundreds 
of public companies, and one or two great combinations. 
Individually, the force of any one of these is formidable, 
when opposed to a rival concern of its own weight and 
industrial gun-power. But, mustered into the organized 
commercial army which the present situation demands, 
they present a heterogeneous front compared with the 
ordered and closely knit phalanx that Germany has ad- 
vanced to the attack. 

If ever there was an opportunity for the removal of 
these disadvantages it is now. In what way is this to be 



TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 540 

effected! By a general formation of trusts? No doubt 
necessity will drive considerable lengths in this direction, 
but even this procedure — distasteful to the public — leaves 
much unsolved. Moreover, the alternative, state control, 
on so large a scale as this would involve a more fateful 
leap into Socialism than the nation has been prepared for 
even by the events of the past two years. 

In any case it seems to me that there is a moderately 
simple means of supplying a practical impetus to a suc- 
cessful stand against German trade aggression. Surely 
this might be effected by broadening the scope of our 
South American legations, not after the German model, 
but in a legitimate fashion. 

We can now afford to regard our diplomatists in South 
America with some complacency. That particular de- 
partment is not so restful in these days as it was some 
twenty years ago, when the aspirants to attacheships 
were haunted by a tradition that a lack of proper influ- 
ence meant an exile to South America, and that, after 
years of a Rip Van Winkle-like existence, the sole reply 
which the F.O. would deign to the protest of an official 
thus stranded was an enquiry concerning the whereabouts 
of the place with the strange name from which the young 
diplomat dated his letter, and, further, how it came about 
that he should find himself there ! 

Fortunately for ourselves, we have now a number of 
ministers of the first order in South America — the same 
may be said of the South American ministers in Europe 
— and nothing could be more gratifying than the stand- 
ard set by our senior representative in Argentina. It 
would be lamentable were the functions and dignity of 
these ministers in any way interfered with. But why not 
graft on to this tree of legitimate state a branch which 
should apply itself to commercial purposes only? It may 
be objected that such officials as commercial attaches are 
already in existence. I would carry the duties of these 
suggested adjutants of trade much further. The new 



544 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

branch should be made the rallying-point of an organized 
force to stem an organized tide. 

Needless to say, its officials would have to submit to a 
very special training. The curriculum of a public-school, 
a university, with vacations spent abroad, and a year or 
two at * ' Scoones, ' ' is admirable enough in itself. But it 
does not fit a young attache to cope with professional in- 
triguers and with the seamy side of commercial life. Be- 
fore he takes up the lively responsibilities of his post this 
new man's studies must have drawn him over rougher 
places than the shaven lawns of international law, politi- 
cal economy, and history. 

He must have familiarized himself with the conditions 
under which the various businesses of his fellow coun- 
trymen in South America are carried on. It is of 
supreme importance that he should delve into the dark 
places where the typical dodges and evasions of our chief 
competitor are hatched. In sympathy he must be heart 
and soul with the business people of his nation. In fact, 
he must be a diplomat in his shirt-sleeves, and should rep- 
resent to the minister or charge d'affaires that which the 
engineer does to the commander of a battleship. Finally, 
he should be reasonably endowed with the qualities of 
mental elasticity and detective power. 

How is all this to be effected? There are a dozen ways 
that suggest themselves to the person of average intelli- 
gence, given a loosening of some of the more rigid of the 
official tenets — a process that should not be difficult in 
these frankly experimental days. In fact, this new offi- 
cial, if he is to succeed, must be under the protection of 
a specially founded ministry — a ministry of anti-red 
tape! 

Doubtless there are a dozen more or less valid objec- 
tions which might be brought against this suggested inno- 
vation. But those which confine themselves to the diffi- 
culties of finding the right men and of training them, 
should not, I think, be taken seriously, since a moderate 



TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 54j5 

display of organizing power will overcome an obstacle 
which is important only in the minds of those averse to 
a new order of affairs. 

Quite possibly in the first instance the British merchant 
himself would look askance at the new departure, and 
would utter a few sturdy and outspoken objections against 
an attempt on the part of outsiders to teach him his 
business. But, if the service were in any way efficient, it 
would take the new officials a comparatively short time 
to prove themselves invaluable allies instead of mere 
chastening agents. In which case the average merchant 
would soon have cause to admit the incalculable benefits 
to be derived from the presence of an official whose whole 
mind and time were given to tasks which the merchant 
possessed neither time, inclination — nor perhaps even 
ability — to achieve for himself — in fact, an ally whose 
chief aim would be to supply an intelligence service on 
tap, as it were. 

Surely the importance of a successful work of this 
kind cannot be over-estimated. It must not be forgotten 
that in spite — or because — of its dubious morality, this 
German commercial policy has paid! The ocular evi- 
dence of German prosperity in South America is so sa- 
lient that the traveler in that continent needs none of 
the numerous attendant statistics to help to prove it ! In 
one or two spots the advertising genius of the Germans 
has even gone the length of implanting a German settle- 
ment — sufficiently ostentatious to make a blaring parade 
of success — on a spot previously inhabited by the British, 
which had been abandoned with a dignified but incom- 
prehensible calm. Yet more striking evidence is pro- 
vided by the pretentious buildings of the German clubs 
and institutions, edifices which suggest the work of an 
iron fist in a monumental mood toying with bricks and 
mortar! But let it never be forgotten that the founda- 
tion of these peace-time equivalents of the Hindenburg 
statue in Berlin have been set in a prosperity caused, not 



546 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

by superior manufactures, but by a more obsequious at- 
tention to the customer's wants, and a more cunning way, 
officially assisted, of selling them ! 

And now to deal with the situation of to-day. At the 
present juncture it is very doubtful how fully the depth 
of South American unpopularity into which the circum- 
stances of the war have plunged the Germans is under- 
stood in Great Britain. Here are a few extracts from a 
prominent Brazilian merchant's letter written to a friend 
of mine some six months after the outbreak of hostilities, 
which will — very mildly — illustrate this, as well as some 
other important points : 

**The useless German propaganda attributing to Eng- 
land the responsibilities of the war are of no avail. ... I 
bear no hatred toward the Germans in general and I am 
sorry for them, but I detest the Kaiser and his militar- 
ism, which it is necessary to destroy once and for all. 
The blood of so many brave men killed calls for justice, 
and justice will be done, for the God of Humanity is not 
He whom the Kaiser calls his ally. 

"I follow daily in several newspapers all that is writ- 
ten as to the war, and I think that we are here almost 
as well informed as you in Europe are, because our tele- 
graphic news service is very good. In our press there 
is not one single journal that is not on the side of the 
Allies, except one little Italian rag that is published here 
and sold to Germans. Of the Brazilian and Portuguese 
inhabitants of Rio also 95 per cent, is in favor of the 
Allies, and if this current of sympathy were ably devel- 
oped it would be easy for English and French merchants 
to push the Germans right out, but I know both one and 
the other well enough to be aware how difficult it would 
be to induce them to alter their manner of working. . . . 
Now that England, France, and Belgium have put their 
hands to the defense of their countries, let them also do 
it in defense of their commercial interests. . . . Business 
propaganda should start from the English and French 



TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 547 

chambers of commerce, backed by official support, but 
without the interference of self-seeking politicians. Send 
business men who can get to business with our merchants ! 
Only thus will something be attained. All the rest is 
throwing away time and money. ' ' 

These are the phrases of an intelligent and practical 
merchant. The sound commonsense expressed in his 
opinion is undeniable. As to its reference to South 
American sentiment, it must be remembered that these 
lines were written when the German propaganda was at 
its height, and very long before the declaration of war 
by Germany on Portugal had stirred the consistent South 
American resentment to its present pitch. I have tried 
to show that the South American has always looked with 
some favor on the Englishman: but if the regard was 
warm before the war, it is burning now! 

Surely all the energies which can be spared from the 
vital needs of the war should be turned to that ** devel- 
opment of sympathy" to which the Eio merchant refers. 
It would be a poor ambition, moreover, which would con- 
tent itself with the mere seizing of a strategic advantage 
offered by our enemies' preoccupation. If we desire to 
continue in our rightful place in the industrial world, how 
can we fail to prepare ourselves — as is well within our 
power — to cope with the full blood of German industry 
should it resume its attempts to swamp our own ! ' ^ Quien 
se hace miel le comen las mo seas," says the Spaniard. 
*'He who lets himself be honey is eaten by the flies !" 

Should Germany continue a nation, without a doubt 
such an attempt will be made sooner or later, and it re- 
quires no gift of foresight to judge that it will be con- 
ducted on an important scale. No doubt, following a pol- 
icy which has proved successful in the past, she will 
attempt a lavish short cut to reinstatement, and will en- 
deavor to dull the memories of the war by sending out a 
stream of dollars — from however diminished a hoard — in 
as close an order as she sent her soldiers to the attack. 



548 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

A fluffy hailstorm of notes will play about the centers of 
journalism, officialdom, and general commerce: it needs 
not a very astute seer to prophesy so much. Then would 
arise a great opportunity for the proposed new officials ; 
for an attitude of passive resistance is as profitless in a 
war of commerce as in a battle of shells. 

To forsake the topic of the German trade hostilities 
for that of the North American competition is to experi- 
ence the sensations of one emerging from an entangled 
forest path on to an open high-road. Yet this affords no 
reason for regarding it lightly. The North American 
competition with which we have to contend is straight- 
forward, of a fairly simple order, but very powerful. It 
relies for its success largely on a sheer weight of dollars. 
It enjoys forming a trust and buying up the control of 
an entire trade as it has done in the case of the river 
Plate chilled meat industry and the banana trade of the 
extreme north of the Continent. In its industrial enter- 
prise, moreover, it has set itself a very high standard — if 
not quite so lofty an ideal of political morality — at Pan- 
ama. 

The North American has already given ample proof 
that he means business — very big business — in the South. 
But, seeing that no question of imperial aggression is 
concerned, there would seem no reason why his ventures 
and those of the British should not thrive side by side. 
Generally speaking, the North American's experience of 
the Southern continent has up to the present been limited. 
The newcomer from the United States finds it difficult 
to realize how many races teem, and how many rivers 
run, between New York and Buenos Aires. Moreover, 
seeing that South America is so essentially a Latin con- 
tinent, refusing to open the doors of her intimacies to any 
chance knocker ignorant of her tongues, manners, and cus- 
toms, this condition of affairs cannot be altered very rap- 
idly. But the importance of the work which the United 
States is already achieving in this direction may be gaged 




STREET SCENE IN RIO DE JANEIRO 




AVENUE EIO BRANCO, RIO DE JANEIRO 



TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 549 

from the ** Bulletin of the Pan-American Union," an ad- 
mirably edited organ, with which we in England, to our 
loss, have nothing to compare. 

In many respects the North American has only just 
begun to feel his feet in South America. Being a rapid 
worker, he has already begun to compete with us in our 
railway enterprises, and in general commerce he is nat- 
urally making the most of the opportunities afforded him 
by the European conflagration. Nevertheless, I do not 
think that the United States will be in a position to make 
her full force felt until she has largely increased the 
number of her workers who are genuinely conversant 
with South American affairs. 

There is a final point to be considered, bearing rather 
on our relations with the South Americans themselves 
than with our industrial and commercial competitors. 
In what manner would the proposed policy of imperial 
preference affect the inhabitants of the Southern con- 
tinent? It would, I think, leave them calm. The con- 
tinuous progress of industry tends to keep the various 
fields and markets in a state of flux. To-day the competi- 
tion between South America and our colonies is not in 
food products (neither can produce sufficient to meet the 
world's demand) nor in the command of the markets. 
Such rivalry as exists concerns the attraction of immi- 
grants and capital. 

How fully alive are our colonies to the importance of 
removing the bushels from their lights may be judged 
from those well-planned agencies and shop-window ex- 
hibitions which they have established in London and 
elsewhere. If there be a canker in the British Empire, 
it is, I think, a parochial spirit, which occasionally flour- 
ishes at its heart (where the best and least mingle) and 
which finds nothing on which to thrive in the colonies 
and younger lands. It seemed a stroke of genius that 
at the Argentine Centenary Exhibition held a few years 
ago gallant little New Zealand should have had a section 



550 BRITISH EXPLOITS IN SOUTH AMERICA 

all to herself. More of this kind of thing — from infor- 
mation bureaus to exhibition shops — would greatly facili- 
tate our relations with the great Southern continent. 
Who would not strongly advocate a more thorough edu- 
cation of the British in South American affairs: a more 
thorough education of the South Americans in British 
affairs ! 

So much is, I suppose, a platitude. But the ignorance 
which from time to time is displayed in London on the 
part of even those financially interested in the Latin Con- 
tinent is sufficiently amazing to justify many platitudes ! 
I myself know of one minor loan (of seven figures never- 
theless) that was floated largely on the misapprehension 
that it was for a fashionable South American seaside re- 
sort, when its object was really a commercial port on the 
banks of one of the great rivers. The names of the two 
somewhat resembled each other! No harm was done; 
but that was not on account of the geographical knowl- 
edge of the financiers ! 

So much for a few considerations affecting our com- 
mercial relations with our competitors and with the South 
Americans. Apart from every question of business, 
there is surely every ethical reason why the British should 
work hand in hand with the Iberian in the development 
of a continent which has every right to call itself the most 
industrially remarkable in the world. 

The duty of assisting in this task has appealed to the 
British for more than a century, and their sympathies 
with the South Americans have remained unbroken 
throughout. It is seldom enough that a note is struck 
such as that of C. B. Mansfield, a splendid but rather 
visionary personality — beloved and admired of Charles 
Kingsley — who, seething with ecstasy at the splendors a 
trip in South America revealed to him, wrote, ''What a 
monstrous folly, to guarantee by treaties the possession 
of these lands to these Iberians ! ' ' 

This cry rises from the pages of a sufficiently remark- 



TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 551 

able book wbich Mansfield wrote in 1852. It is instruct- 
ive in its way, since it proves that a person of even Mans- 
field's genius mistook for a normal state the convulsions 
that accompanied the birth of the new nations. He fore- 
saw neither the great prosperity which was to come into 
being nor the intellectual field which has already given 
strong evidence of its power, and which will undoubtedly 
provide some of the most remarkable achievements of 
the future. 

But his commercial countrymen who were settled in 
the Continent at the time of Mansfield's visit, guided per- 
haps by instinct rather than observation, made no such 
mistake. No nation, surely, has proved itself so well fit- 
ted as Great Britain to serve as a practical guide for 
that South American brilliancy which for the first half- 
century of the independence of the Continent shone only 
in fitful gleams. Now that the time for guidance is pass- 
ing, may we not more than maintain our position by con- 
tinuing our assistance — as an ally? 



APPENDIX 



APPENDIX 

BIBLIOGEAPHY OF MODERN WORKS 
FROM 1870 

1870 Resources of the Argentine Republic. By Major Rickard. 

1870 Letter of Colombus, with other Original Documents Re- 
lating to his Four Voyages to the New World. Translated 
by R. H. Major. (Hakluyt Society.) 

1870 The Andes and the Amazon. By James Orton. 

1870 Letters from the Battle Fields of Paraguay. By Sir 
Richard Burton. 

1870 Pioneering in the Pampas. 2nd edition. By R. A. Sey- 
mour. 

1870 Seven Eventful Years in Paraguay. By G. F. Masterman. 

1870 Ten Months in Brazil, with Notes on the Paraguayan War. 
By J. Codman. 

1870 Flint Chips: A Guide to Pre-historic Archeology, as Il- 
lustrated by the Collection in the Blackmore Museum, 
Salisbury. By Edward T. Stevens. 

1871 Emigration to the River Plate, Success of British Subjects 
in Buenos Aires, List of Landowners, Description of the 
City and Province of Buenos Aires. By S. Webster. 

1871 Notes on the Natural History of the Straits of Magellan 

and West Coast of Patagonia. By R. D. Cunningham. 
1871 Three Years' Slavery among the Patagonians. By A. 

Guinnard. 
1871 The Coolie, his Rights, Wrongs: Notes of a Journey to 

British Guiana. By Edward Jenkin. 
1871 At Home with the Patagonian. By Commander G. Cha- 

warth Masters, R.N. 

1871 Travels in Uruguay. By J. H. Murray. 

1872 Rough Notes on a Journey through the Wilderness, from 
Trinidad to Para, Brazil, by Way of the Great Cataracts 
of the Orinoco and Rio Grande. By H. A. Wickham. 

555 



556 APPENDIX 

1872 Round the World in 1870 : An Account of a Brief Tour 
Made through India, China, Japan, California, and South 
America. By A. D. Carlisle. 

1872 Reports on the Discovery of Peru. Translated and edited, 
with notes and an introduction. By Clements R. Mark- 
ham. 

1872 Reports on the Discovery of Peru by Pizarro and Others. 
Translated and edited by Clements Markham. (Hakluyt 
Society. ) 

1873 Two Years in Peru : with Exploration of Its Antiquities. 
By T. J. Hutchinson. 

1873 British Guiana, the Essequibo and Potaro Rivers, with an 

Account of a Visit to the Recently Discovered Kaieteur 

Falls. By Lieut.-Colonel Webber. 
1873 At Home with the Patagonians. By G. C. Musters. 
1873 Brazilian Colonization : from an European Point of View. 

By Jacare Assu. 
1873 The Amazons: Diary of a Twelvemonths' Journey on a 

Mission of Enquiry up the River Amazon. By R. S. 

Clough. 
1873 Reports Respecting the Condition of British Emigrants 

in Brazil. 
1873 Narratives of the Rites and Laws of the Yneas. Translated 

and edited, with notes and an introduction. By Sir 

Clements Markham. (Hakluyt Society.) 
1873 Life and Missionary Travels of the Rev. J. F. Ogle. 

Edited by Wylie. 

1873 A Journey across South America. By Paul Marcoy. 

1874 The Western World : Picturesque Sketches of Nature and 
Natural History in North and South America. By W. H. 
G. Kingston. 

1874 Memoir of Lady Ana de Osorio, Countess of Chinchon and 
Vice-Queen of Peru. By Sir Clements R. Markham. 

1875 Explorations Made in the Valley of the River Madeira, 
from 1749 to 1868. Published for the National Bolivian 
Navigation Company. 

1875 Geological Survey of British Guiana. By C. B. Brown 

and J. G. Sawkins. 
1875 The Amazon and Madeira Rivers. By Franz Keller. 
1875 History of British Guiana. By Geo. W. Bennett. 



APPENDIX 557 

1876 The Argentine Republic. By Richard Napp. 

1876 Handbook to the River Plate. By M. G. and E. T. Mul- 
hall. 

1876 Sporting Adventures in the Pacific whilst in Command 
of the Reindeer. By W. R. Kennedy. 

1876 Recollections of Four Years in Venezuela. By C. D. 
Dance. 

1876 Dutch Guiana. By "W. G. Palgrave. 

1876 Canoe and Camp Life in British Guiana. By C. Barring- 
ton Brown. 

1876 Over the Sea and Far Away. By T. W. Hinchliff. 

1877 The Two Americas. By Major Sir R. Lambart Price. 
^ 1877 Peru and its Creditors. By W. Clarke. 

1877 Brazil and the River Plate, 1870-76. By W. Hadfield. 

1878 Fifteen Thousand Miles on the Amazon and its Tributar- 
ies. By C. B. Brown and W.. Lidstone. 

1878 The Land of Bolivar. By J. M. Spence. 
1878 The English in South America. By M. G. Mulhall. 
1878 Pioneering in South Brazil. By T. P. Brigg-Wither. 
1878 Visit to South America, with Notes and Observations, etc. 

By Edwin Clark. 
1878 The Land of Bolivar; or, "War, Peace, and Adventure in 

the Republic of Venezuela. By J. M. Spence. 

1878 On the Supply of Nitrate of Soda and Guano from Peru. 

1879 Wanderings in Patagonia; or. Life among the Ostrich 
Hunters. By Julius Beerbolm. 

1879 Notes by a Naturalist on the Challenger. By H. N. 

Moseley. 
1879 Roraima, and British Guiana, with a Glance at Bermuda, 

the West Indies, and the Spanish Main. By J. W. Bod- 

dam-Whitham. 
1879 Waterton's Wanderings in South America. Edited by 

the Rev. J. G. Wood. 
1879 Brazil, the Amazons, and the Coast. By H. H. Smith. 
1879 Report of Robert Cross's mission to South America in 

1877-8 to Collect Plants of the Quinine Bark Tree, etc. 
1879 Up the Amazon and Madeira Rivers. By Edward D. 

Mathews. 
1879 Brazil and the Brazilians (9th edition). By J. C. 

Fletcher and D. P. Kidder. 



558 APPENDIX 

1880 Voyages of the Elizabethan Seamen to America. By E. 
J. Payne. 

1880 Eight Months on the Gran Chaco of the Argentine Re- 
public. By Giovanni Pelleschi. 

1880 The Natural and Moral History of the Indies. By Father 
Joseph de Acosta. Edited by Sir Clements Markham. 
(Hakluyt Society.) 

1880 Legends and Myths of the Aboriginal Indians of British 
Guiana. By W. H. Brett. 

1880 South America. By A. Gallenga. 

1880 Six Weeks with the Chilean Army, being a Short Ac- 
count of a March from Pisco to Lurin, and the Attack 
on Lima. By Commander William Acland, R.N. (Pri- 
vately printed at the Melanesian Mission, Norfolk Island.) 

1880 Across Patagonia. By Lady Florence Dixie. 

1880 Peruvian Bark: a Popular Account of the Introduction 
of Chinchona Cultivation into British India. By Sir 
Clements Markham. 

1881 The Prospects of Peru, the End of the Guano Age and a 
Description Thereof, Etc. By A. J. Dufifield. 

1881 Between the Amazon and Andes; or. Ten Years of a 

Lady's Travels in the Pampas, Gran Chaco, Paraguay, 

and Matto Grosso. By M. G. Mulhall. 
1881 Chapters from a Guianese Log-Book. By the Rev. C. D. 

Dance. 
1881 Sketches of Chili and the Chileans during the War, 1879- 

1880. By R. W. Boyd. 

1881 Cameos from the Silver Land; or, The Experiences of a 
Young Naturalist in the Argentine Republic. By E. W. 
White. 

1882 A Year in the Andes. By R. Carnegie-Williams. 

1883 Among the Indians of Guiana. By Everard F. im Thum. 
1883 The Geology of the Goldfields of British Guiana. By J. 

B. Harrison. 

1883 Travels in Uruguay. By J. H. Murray. 

1883 The Colony of British Guiana and its Laboring Popula- 
tion. By the Rev. H. V. P. Bronkhurst. 

1883 Researches into the Lost Histories of America; or, The 
Zodiac Shown to be an old terrestrial Map in which the 
Atlantic Isle is delineated, etc. By W. S. Blacket. 



APPENDIX 559 

1883 The Republic of Uruguay. Stanford. 

1883 The War between Peru and Chile 1879-82. By Sir 
Clements Markham. 

188- ? A Year in the Andes; or, A Lady's Adventures in 
Bogota. By Rosa Carnegie-Williams. 

1884 Spanish and Portuguese South America. By R. G. Wat- 
son. 

1884 The Peruvians at Home. By George R. Fitz-Roy Cole. 
1884 The Temple of the Andes. By Richard Inwards. 

1884 Across the Pampas and the Andes. By Robert Crawford. 

1885 Central America, the West Indies, and South America. 
(Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel), 
edited and extended by H. W. Bates. 

1885 Brazil and Java. Report on Coffee Culture. By C. F. 

Learne. 
1885 Ascent of Mount Roraima. By Sir Everard im Thurn. 
1885 Sketches of African and Indian Life in British Guiana. 

By Ignatius Scoles. 

1885 Description of the Collection of Gold Ornaments from the 
"Huacas" or Groves of Some Aboriginal Races of the 
Northwestern Provinces of South America, Belonging 
to Lady Brassey. By Bryce-Wright. 

Undated. The Cruise of the Falcon. By E. F. Knight. 

1886 A Year in Brazil, with Notes on the Abolition of Slavery, 
Etc. By H. C. Dent. 

1886 Venezuela: A Visit to the Gold Mines of Guiana, and 
Voyage up the River Orinoco during 1886, Etc. By 
William Barry. 

1886 Travels in Guiana and Venezuela. By H. Ten Kate. 

1886 Travels in the Wilds of Ecuador and the Explorations of 
the Putumayo River. By Alfred Simson. 

1886 Exploring and Traveling Three Thousand Miles through 
Brazil. By J. W. Wells. 

1886-89 History of America. By J. Winsor. 

1887 Notes of a Naturalist in South America. By John Ball. 
1887 The Apostle of the Indians. By W. H. Brett. 

1887 Zephyrus: A Holiday in Brazil and on the River Plate. 
By E. R. Pearce Edgecumbe, LL.D. 

Undated. Missionary Pioneering in Bolivia, with some Ac- 
count of Work in Argentina. By W. M. Payne. 



560 APPENDIX 

1887 The Great Silver River, Notes of a Residence in Buenos 
Aires in 1880-81. By Sir Horace Rumbold. 

1887 Sketch of the City of Iquique, Chile, South America: 
Its Past and Present during the last Fifty Years. By 
Captain W. M. F. Castle. 

1888 The Amazon Provinces of Peru as a Field for European 
Emigration, and the Gold and Silver Mines. By H. 
Guillaume. 

1888 Three Cruises of the United States Coast and Geodetic 
Survey Steamer Blake in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean 
Sea, Etc., 1877-1880. By Alexander Agassiz. 

1888 The Venezuela Central Railway and its Sources of Traf- 
fic. By G. E. Church. 

1888 Prospects of Gold Mining in Venezuela. By W. G. 
Wears. 

1888 Among the Hindus and Creoles of British Guiana. By 
the Rev. H. V. P. Bronkhurst. 

1888 The Apostle of the Indians of Guiana. By W. H. Brett. 

1888 The Capitals of Spanish America. By W. E. Curtis. 

1888 Annals of Guiana: Chronological History of its Discov- 
ery and Settlement. By James Rodway and Thomas 
Watt. 

1888-89 Argentine Ornithology. By P. L. Sclater and W. H. 

Hudson. 
1899 Recollections of Travel Abroad. By A. J. Duffield. 
1899 Textile Fabrics of Ancient Peru. By W. H. Holmes. 

1889 From Peru to the Plate Overland. By Patrick A. Evans. 

1890 A Visit to Chile and the Nitrate Fields of Tarapaca. By 
William H. Russell. 

1890 The Great Silver River; Notes of a Residence in Buenos 
Aires in 1880-81. Second edition, with an additional 
chapter on the present commercial position of the coun- 
tiy. By Sir Horace Rumbold. 

1891 The Conquest of the River Plate, 1535-1555, Translated 
by Don Luis L. Dominguez. (Hakluyt Society.) 

1891 Twelve Months in Peru. By E. B. Clark. 

1891 History of the Bucaneers of America. By B. J. Burney. 

1891 Story of the Filibusters, Etc. By James J. Roche. 

1891 Adventures amidst the Equatorial Forests and Rivers of 



APPENDIX 561 

South America, West Indies, and Florida. By Villiers 
Stuart. 
1891 Travels and Adventures of an Orchid Hunter. By Albert 
Millican. 

1891 A Winter's Cruise in Summer Seas. By C. C. Atchison. 

1892 Sporting Sketches in South America. By Sir W. R. 
Kennedy. 

1892 Paraguay. By Dr. E. De Bourgade La Dardye. 
1892 The South American Republics. By Theodore Child. 
1892 The Naturalist in La Plata. By W. H. Hudson. 
1892 The Discovery of America, with Account of Ancient 

America and the Spanish Conquest. By John Fiske. 
1892 The Voyage of the Nyanza Three Years in the Atlantic 

and Pacific. By J. Gumming Dewar. 
1892 Writings of Colombus, descriptive of the Discovery and 

Occupation of the New World. Edited, with introduction 

by P. L. Ford. 
1892 Career of Colombus. By Chas. J. Elton. 
1892 Life of Colombus. By C. K. Adams. 
1892 Life and Labors of John Wray, Pioneer Missionary in 

British Guiana. Compiled by Thomas Rain. 

1892 Notes on British Guiana. By Sir Everard im Thum. 
1892 Argentina and the Argentines. By T. A. Turner. 

1892 Travels among the Great Andes of the Equator. By 
Edward Whymper. 

1892-94 History of the New World Called America. By E. J. 
Payne. 

1893 An Enumeration of the Plants Collected in Bolivia by 
Miguel Bang, with Descriptions of New Genera and Spe- 
cies. By H. H. Rusby. 

1893 The South American Republics. By T. C. Dawson. 
1893 Handbook of British Guiana. By James Rodway. 
1893 Idle Days in Patagonia. By W. H. Hudson. 
1893 Christopher Colombus: His own Book of Privileges, 

1502, Etc. With historical introduction by H. Harrisse, 

the whole compiled and edited with preface by G. F. 

Stevens. 
1893 Journal of Colombus, during his First Voyage, 1492-3, 

and Documents Relating to the Voyages of John Cabot 



562 APPENDIX 

and Gaspar Corte Real. Translated, with notes, etc., by 

Sir Clements Markham. (Hakluyt Society.) 
1893 Tropical America. By L. N. Ford. 
1893 The History and Present State of the Sheep-Breeding 

Industry in the Argentine Republic. By Herbert Gibson. 

1893 The State of Para, Notes for the Exposition of Chicago, 
as Authorised by the Governor of Para, Dr. Lauro So- 
dri. 

1894 Travels of a Naturalist. By A, Boucard. 

1894 By Order of the Sun to Chile to See his Total Eclipse. 
By J. J. Aubertin. 

1894 In the Guiana Forest. By James Rodway. F.L.S. 

1895 The Gold Diggings of Cape Horn : A Study of Life in 
Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia. By J. R. Spears. 

1896 Venezuela; or. Two Years on the Spanish Main. By W. 
E. Wood. 

1896 Over the Andes, from the Argentine to Chile and Peru. 
By May Crommelin. 

1896 John Cabot. By Henry Harrisse. 

1896 Documents and Maps on the Boundary Question between 
Venezuela and British Guiana from the Capuchin Ar- 
chives in Rome. By J. Strickland. 

1896 The West Indies and Spanish Main. By James Rodway. 

1896 Venezuela: A Land where it 's Always Summer. By 
W. E. Curtis. 

1896 Three Gringos in Venezuela and Central America. By 
Richard Harding Davis. 

1897 Records of the Scottish Settlers in the River Plate and 
Their Churches. By James Dodds. 

Undated. Argentine, Patagonian, and Chilean Sketches, with 
a few Notes on Uruguay. By C. E. Akers. 

1898 Boundary Agreement in Force between the Argentine 
Republic and Chile. By Dr. Erailio Lamarca. 

1898 Twenty-five Years in British Guiana. By Henry Kirke. 
1898 South American Sketches. By Robert Crawford. 
1898 Spanish America. By J. W. Root. 
1898 Bibliography of the Anthropology of Peru. By Geo. A. 

Dorsey. 
1898 The Establishment of Spanish Rule in America. By 

Benjamin Moses. 



APPENDIX 563 

1898 The Dwarf Tribe of the Upper Amazon. By D. G. Brin- 

ton. 
1898 Twenty-five Years in British Guiana. By Henry Kirke. 

1898 Spain and Her Colonies. By J. W. Root. 

1899 Temperate Chile. By W. A. Smith. 

1899 Notes on the Natural History of the Aconcagua Valleys, 
from Fitzgerald's "Highest Andes." By Philip Gosse. 

1899 The Highest Andes, a Record of the First Ascent of Acon- 
cagua and Tupungato in Argentina, and the Exploration 
of the Surrounding Valleys. By E. A. Fitzgerald. 

1899 The Ores of Colombia. By H. W. Nichols and 0. C. Far- 
rington. 

1900 South America. By F. G. Carpenter. 

1900 The Colombian and Venezuelan Republics. By Wm. L. 

Scruggs. 
1900-4 The Spanish Conquest in America in Relation to the 

History of Slavery and of the Government of Colonies. 

New edition, with introduction and notes. By M. Oppen- 

heim. 

1900 Traveling Impression in, and Notes on, Peru. By F. 
Seebee. 

1901 The Bolivian Andes: Climbing and Exploration in the 
Cordillera Real in 1898-1900. By Sir Martin Conway. 

1901 The Land of the Amazons. By Baron de Santa-Anna 

Nery. Translated by George Humphrey. 
1901 Through Patagonia. By W. D. Campbell. 
1901 A. H. Keane's Central and South America. Edited by 

Sir Clements Markham. 
1901 The South American Republics. By W. F. Markwich and 

W. A. Smith. 
1901 The Question of the Pacific. An edition in English of 

Dr. Maurtua's work. By F. A. Pezet. 

1901 A Vanished Arcadia. By R. B. Cunninghame Graham. 

1902 The Great Mountains, and Forests of South America. By 
Paul Fountain. 

1902 Ancient Peruvian Art. By A. H. Keane. 

1902 The Caura. By E. Andre. 

1902 Aconcagua and Tierra del Fuego, a Book of Climbing, 

Travel, and Exploration. By Sir Martin Conway. 
19 — Picturesque Paraguay. By Alexander K. Macdonald. 



564. APPENDIX 

1902 Climate of the Argentine Republic, Compiled from ob- 
servations made to the end of the year 1900. By Walter 
G. Davis. 

1902 Down the Orinoco in a Canoe. By S. Perez Triana. 

1902 Through the Heart of Patagonia. By Hesketh H. Prich- 
ard. 

1903 Great Argentina. By Francisco Seeber. 

1903 The Independence of the South American Republics. By 

F. L. Paxon. 
1903 The South American Republics. By Thomas C, Dawson. 
1903 To the Falls of Iguazu. By W. S. Barclay. 

1903 Trade and Travel in South America. By F. Alcock. 
1903-4 Christopher Columbus, his Life, his Work, his Remains, 

as revealed by Original Records, with Essay on Peter 
Martyr and Las Casas. By J. B. Thacher. 

1904 A Naturalist in the Guianas. By E. Andre. 

1904 The Great Mountains and Forests of South America (2nd 
edition). By Paul Fountain. 

1904 South American Sketches. By W. H. Hudson. 

1904 An Account of the Spanish Settlements in South Amer- 
ica. Anonymous. 

1904 A History of South America (1854-1904). By C. E. 
Akers. 

1904 Argentine Shows and Live Stock. By Professor Robert 
Wallace. 

1904 The Countries of the King's Award. By Col. Sir Thomas 
Holdich. 

1904 Among the Indians of the Paraguayan Chaco. By W. B. 
Barbrooke Grubb. 

1905 The Colombian and Venezuelan Republics. By W. L. 
Scruggs. 

1905 Through Five Republics of South America. By Percy 
F. Martin. 

1906 Panama to Patagonia. By C. M. Pepper. 
1906 The Republic of Colombia. By F. L. Petre. 
1906 Bolivia. By Marie Robinson Wright. 

1906 Christopher Colombus, and the New World of his Dis- 
covery. By Filson Young. 

1907 ]\Iodem Argentina. By W. H. Koebel. 

1907 The Birds of Tierra del Fuego. By R. Crawshay. 



APPENDIX 565 

1907 Humboldt's Voyage. Translated and edited by T. Ross. 
1907 The Continent of Opportunity, the South American Re- 
publics. By F. E. Clark, D.D. 

1907 Chile. By G. F. Scott-Elliot. 

1908 Richard Spruce. Notes of a Botanist on the Amazons and 
Andes. Edited and condensed. By A. R. Wallace. 

1908 American Supremacy: The Rise and Progress of the 
Latin American Republics, and Relations to the United 
States under the Monroe Doctrine. By George W. Crich- 
field. 

1908 A Bibliography of Sir Walter Raleigh, Knight. By T. N. 
Brushfield. 

1908 The Andes and the Amazon: Life and Travel in Peru. 
By C. R. Enock. 

1908 Peru. By Reginald C. Enock. 

1909 Explorers in the New World, before and after Colombus ; 
and the Story of the Jesuit Missions of Paraguay. By 
Marion McMurrough Mulhall. 

1909 The Argentine Year Book. By H. W. Farrell. 

1909 Bartholomew de Las Casas. By F. A. Macnutt. 

1909 Yachting in the Pacific. Notes of Travel in Peru, Ecua- 
dor, Etc. By A. Mann. 

1909 The Great Pacific Coast. By C. R. Enock. 

1909 The Journal of an Expedition across Venezuela and Col- 
ombia. By Hiram Bingham. 

1909 Peru, its Story, People, Religion. By Geraldine Guin- 
ness. 

1909 Official Handbook of British Guiana. 

1910 Argentina : Past and Present. By W. H. Koebel. 

1910 ManUal of Argentine Railways. By S. H. M. Killik. 

1910 Ups and Downs of a Wandering Life. Roaming Adven- 
tures in Argentine, Paraguay, Venezuela, Etc. By Wal- 
ter Seymour. 

1910 On Sea and Land. By H. W. Case. 

1910 The Andes and the Amazon. By C. R. Enock. 

1910. The Argentine Republic. By A. Stuart Pennington. 

1910 Our Search for a Wilderness, An Account of Two Or- 
nithological Expeditions to Venezuela and to British 
Guiana. By M. B. and C. W. Beele. 

1910 Simon Bolivar, "El Libertador." By Lindon Bates. 



566 APPENDIX 

1910 Up the Orinoco and down the Magdalena. By H. J. Moz- 

ans. 
1910 Life of Sir Woodbine Parish, or Early Days in Argentina. 

By the Hon. Nina Kay Shuttleworth. 
1910 The United States of Brazil, with a Chapter on Uruguay. 

By C. W. Domville-Fife. 
1910 The Other Americans. By A. Ruhl. 
1910 The Amazons in Antiquity and Modern Times. By G. 

C. Rothery. 

1910 Argentina. By W. A. Hirst. 

1911 Early Spanish Voyages to the Strait of Magellan. Trans- 
lated and edited, with a preface, introduction and notes 
by Sir Clements Markham. (Hakluyt Society.) 

1911 An Unknown People in an Unknown Land. By W. Bar- 

brooke Grubb, 
1911 Brazil. By Pierre Denis. 
1911 The Family and Heirs of Sir Francis Drake. By Lady 

Elliot Drake. 
1911 A Woman's Winter in South America. By Charlotte 

Cameron. 
1911 Uruguay. By W. H. Koebel. 
1911 The Argentine in the Twentieth Century. By Albert B. 

Martinez, 
1911 Under the Roof of the Jungle. By Charles Livingston 

Bull. 
1911 The Ten Republics. By Robert P. Porter. 
1911 Peru of the Twentieth Century, By Percy F. Martin. 
1911 The Wilds of Patagonia. By Carl Scottsberg. 
1911 South America To-day. By Georges Clemenceau. 
1911 Through the Wilderness of Brazil. By W. A. Cook. 
1911 In the Guiana Forest (2nd Edition). By James Rod- 
way, F. L. S. 
1911 Wheat Growing in Canada, The United States, and the 

Argentine. By W. P. Rutter. 
1911 The Rise of British Guiana. Compiled by C. A, Harris 

and J. A, J. de Villiers, (Hakluyt Society.) 
1911 Along the Andes and down the Amazon, By H. J, Moz- 

ans. 
1911 Adventures in Search of a Living in Spanish America. 

By "Vaquero." 



APPENDIX 567 

1911 Simon Bolivar. By F. L. Petre. 

1911 Across South America. By Hiram Bingham. 

1911 Old Panama and Castillo del Oro. By R. D. Johnson. 

1911 The Incas of Peru (2nd Edition). By Sir Clements 
Markham. 

1912 The Putumayo, the Devil's Paradise. By W. E. Harden- 
burg. 

1912 The Sea and the Jungle. By H. M. Tomlinson. 

1912 Venezuela. By Leonard V. Dalton. 

1912 Early Man in South America. By Ales Hrdlicka in col- 
laboration with W. H. Holmes, B. Willis, Fr. E. Wright, 
and Clarence N. Fenner. 

1912 South America. By W. H. Koebel. 

1912 Where Socialism Failed. By Stewart Grahame. 

1912 The Secret of the Pacific. By C. Reginald Enock. 

1912 Aborigines of South America. By Colonel Church. 

1912 The Conquest of New Granada. By Sir Clements Mark- 
ham. 

1912 South American Archgeology. By Thomas A. Joyce. 

1912 <^ In Jesuit Land : The Jesuit Missions of Paraguay. By 
W. H. Koebel. 

1912 The Independence of Chile. By A. S. M. Chisholm. 

1912 South America: Observations and Impressions. By 
James Bryce. 

1912 In the Amazon Jungle. By A. Lange. 

1912 The Path of the Conquistadores. By L. Bates. 

1912 Guiana : British, French and Dutch. By James Rodway. 

1912 High Mountain Climbing in Peru and Bolivia. By A. 
S. Peck. 

1913 South America (The Making of the Nations Series). By 
W. H. Koebel. 

1913 Modem Chile. By W. H. Koebel. 

1913 The Lords of the Devil's Paradise. The Ptitumayo 

Atrocities. By G. Sidney Paternoster. 
1913 The Putumayo Red Book. By N. T. 
1913 To the River Plate and Back. By J. W. Holland. 
1913 Latin America: Its Rise and Progress. By F. Garcia 

Calderen. 
1913 The Venezuelan Boundary Controversy. By Grover 

Cleveland. 



568 APPENDIX 

1913 Panama: the Creation, Destruction, and Resurrection. 

By Bunau-Varilla. 
1913 Colombia. By Phanor J. Eder. 
1913 South America: A Supplementary Geography. By J. F. 

and A. H. Chamberlain. 
1913 Observations on the Natives of the Patagonian Channel 

Region. By Carl Scottsberg. 
1913 Across Unknown South America. By A. Henry Savage 

Landor. 
1913 The Travels of Ellen Cornish. 

1913 A Tour through South America. By A. S. Forrest. 
1913 In the Wonderland of Peru. By Hiram Bingham.^ 
1913 Brazil in 1913. By J. C. CakenfulL 
1913 Brazil and Portugal in 1809 (Manuscript Marginalia). 

By George W. Robinson. 

1913 O'Higgins of Chile. By J. J. Mehegan. 

1914 Ecuador. By C. Reginald Enock. 
1914 Bolivia. By Paul Walle. 

1914 Chile. By George J. Mills. 

1914 Argentina. By G. J. Mills. 

1914 North Brazil. By E. C. Buley. 

1914 Peru. By E. Charles Vivian. 

1914 South Brazil. By E. C. Buley. '' 

1914 New Light on Drake. By Zelia Nuttal (Hakluyt Society). 

1914 The Romance of the River Plate. By W. H. Koebel. 

1914 The Upper Reaches of the Amazon. By Joseph F. Wood- 
ruffe. 

1914 The River Amazon. By Paul Fountain. 

1914 The Spanish Dependencies in South America. By B. 
Moses. 

1914 The Amazing Argentine. By John Foster Eraser. 

1914 A Walloon Family in America. Lockwood de Forest and 
his Forebears, 1500-1848, Together with a Voyage to 
Guiana, being the Journal of Jesse de Forest and his Col- 
onists. By Mrs. Robert W. de Forest. 

1914 Under the Southern Cross in South America. By Wil- 
liam Buckman. 

1914 The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. The Whale 
Fisheries of the Falkland Islands and Dependencies. By 
Theodore E. Salvesen. 



APPENDIX 569 

1914 The Lower Amazon. By Algot Lange. 

1914 Northern Patagonia: Character and Resources. By Bai- 
ley Willis. 

1914 Mysterious South America. By A. Henry Savage Landor. 

1914 Through the Brazilian Wilderness. By Theodore Roose- 
velt. 

1914 The New Brazil (2nd Edition). By Marie Robinson 
Wright. 

1914 The Timbers of British Guiana. By Herbert Stone and 
Dr. W. G. Freeman. 

1914 West Indies and Guiana. By Algernon E. Aspinall. 

1914 Chile : Its Land and People. By F. J. G. Maitland. 

1914 Colombia. By V. Levine. 

1914 The South American Tour. By Annie S. Peck. 

1914 The Two Americas. By General R. Reys. 

1914 Forty Years in Brazil. By Frank Bennett. 

1914 A Church in the Wilds, the South American Mission to 
the Paraguayan Chaco. By W. B. Grubb. 

1915 Brazil and the Brazilians. By G. J. Bruce. 
1915 South of Panama By Dr. Edward Alsworth Ross. 

1915 The Rubber Industry of the Amazon and how its Suprem- 
acy can be Maintained. By Joseph F. Woodrofe and 
Harold Hamel Smith, with a foreword by Viscount Bryce. 

1915 The Real Argentine. By J, M. Hammerton. 

1915 The Northwest Amazons. Notes of Some Months Spent 
Among Cannibal Tribes. By Captain Thomas Whiffen. 

1915 Mineral Resources of Minas Geraes (Brazil). By Albert 
F. Calvert. 

1915 The Amazon as a River, a Problem, and a Call. By the 
Rev. O. R. Walkey. 

1915 The South Americans. By W. H. Koebel. 

1915 ( ?) The Plateau Peoples of South America. By Alexan- 
der A. Adams. 

1915 Colombia and the United States. By Norman Thomson. 

1916 Through South America's Southland. With an Account 
of the Roosevelt Scientific Expedition to South America. 
By the Rev. J. A. Zahn (H. J. Mozans). 

1917 Paraguay. By W. H. Koebel. 



BBITISH ARRIVALS IN THE RIVER PLATE 

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 

XIXTH CENTURY 

FROM ENGLAND 

Names Tear of Arrival 

Robert Jackson 1802 

Oliver Jump 1808 Proprietor 

Philip Parkin 1809 

James Barton 1809 Proprietor 

Robert Billinghurst 1809 Proprietor 

John Postlethwaite 1810 

John Ludlam 1810 Proprietor 

D. M'Kinlay 1811 Proprietor 

S. Puddicomb 1812 

John Stevenson 1812 

James Brittain 1812 Proprietor 

William Cope 1812 Proprietor 

Thomas Nelson 1814 

Spenser Davis Weller 1815 

Joseph Lee 1815 

Sam Chapman 1813 

David Price 1813 

Thomas Newton 1811 

John Turner 1814 

Joshua Thwaites 1816 Proprietor 

N. B. Nisbet 1816 

T. H. Bayley 1817 Proprietor 

John Appleyard 1818 Proprietor 

John Carlisle 1818 

John Harratt 1818 

John Tabberer 1818 Proprietor 

Thomas I. C. Gowland 1812 

James Kelshaw 1819 

John Sillietoe 1820 Proprietor 

670 



APPENDIX 571 

"Names Year of Arrival 

George Nuttall 1820 

George Brown 1822 

E. S. Harvey 1822 

John and Wm. Downes 1822 Proprietor 

Joseph Crowther 1822 

Samuel Lafone 1823 

Merchants 36 

Proprietors 13 

FROM IRELAND 

Names Tear of Arrival 

John Dillon 1806 

Richard Duffy 1811 

R. Montgomery 1814 

Peter Sheridan 1817 Proprietor 

John Gullinan, M. D 1818 Proprietor 

Merchants 5 

Proprietors 2 

FROM SCOTLAND 

Names Tear of Arrival 

Thomas Fair 1809 Proprietor 

David Spalding 1806 Proprietor 

Alexander Wilson 1808 

John Miller 1810 Proprietor 

John Orr 1811 Proprietor 

George M'Farlane 1813 Proprietor 

John Parish Robertson 1 

l 1813 Proprietors 

Wm. Parish Robertson J 

John Carter 1806 Proprietor 

John Watson 1815 

William M'Quake 1816 Proprietor 

Andrew C. Dick, M. D 1817 Proprietor 

John M'Farlane 1818 

Duncan Stewart 1818 

Henry Hoker 1818 

Stewart D. Campbell 1820 



572 APPENDIX 

Names / Year of Arrival 

Duncan M'Nab 1820 

John Gibson . .") 1820 

George Gibson J 1^24 Proprietors 

Adam Butters 1822 

Thomas Duguid 1822 

William Thompson 1822 

John M'Dougall 1822 

James Miller 1821 

John Stewart 1824 

C. Watson 1824 

William Loekhart 1824 

Robert Mathison : 1824 

John M'Clelland 1824 

Merchants 28 

Proprietors 12 

The above list is taken from "Records of the Scottish Settlers 
in the River Plate and Their Churches," by James Dobbs. 



INDEX 



Alfinger, the Prussian, 529 
Aljubarrota, field of, 6 
Alliance, between England and Port- 
ugal, 5 
Alligator, Waterton's adventure 

with an, 402, 403 
Althaus, Colonel, 276 
Amazon, valley explored by Bates 
and Wallace, 408-415 
characteristics of the, 410, 412, 

413 
yellow fever attacks valley of the, 
417 
Andes, early crossings of the, 262, 
276 
Darwin crosses the, 408 
Anson, Commodore George, 117, 240 
Aquatints, Sir Henry Chamberlain's 

South American, 449 
Argentina, fate of British prisoners 
in, 153 
character of army of, 202, 203 
William Brown becomes admiral 

for, 229 
war between Brazil and, 328 
character of navy of, 376 
financial crisis in (1890), 484 
center of British South American 
settlers, 485 
Araucanians, Benavides becomes 
leader of, 219 
conversion of the, 491 
Armitage, History of Brazil by 

John, 455 
Australians, settle in Paraguay, 506 
Authors, professions and occupa- 
tions of British South Amer- 
ican, 440 



s 



Bacalhao, (dried cod), Anglo-Bra- 
zilian trade in, 319 
Bahia, English trading post founded 
at, 47 
raided by Withrington, 59 
visited by Sir Home Popham, 143 
Portuguese Court stops first at, 

285 
negr esses of, 286 

573 



Bahia — continued 

United States ship Constitution 
defeats British frigate Java off, 
297 
attacked by Admiral Cochrane, 

303, 305 
Irish colony sent to, 334 
Baker, Admiral, assists Emperor and 
Empress escape from Brazil, 
344-363 
Balenar, town of, 112 
Bancroft, "Essay on Natural His- 
tory of Guiana," by Edward, 
478 
Barcelona, treasure of, 182 
Barker, Andrew, 38 

death of, 39 
Bates, Henry, explores the Amazon, 

408-412, 458 
Bats, characteristics of the vampire, 
399 
Spruce's combat with, 416 
Beamish, Major, 170 
Beggars, in Brazil, 317 
Beltran, the monk, 202 
Benavides, career of, 218-223 
captured by Chileans, 219 
wins favor of San Martin, 219 
commands Araucanians, 219 
captures x\merican ships, 220 
prepares invasion of Chile, 220 
end of, 222 
Beresford, campaign of General, 147 
Berrie, Captain, 77 
Bibliography, prior to 1870, 421-480 
Billinghurst, Robert, 501 
Biscay, Bay of, 5 
Blair, incident of famous duelist, 

160 
Blanco, Commodore, 205, 242 

Mrs. Commodore, 207 
Bogota, Mrs. English's house at, 186 
gas plant built in, 187 
Bolivar's house near, 245 
Christmas celebrations at, 273 
Bolivar, character of, 167, 184-186, 
451 
signs contract with Devereux, 

176 
thanks British and Irish Legions, 

180 
navy of, 183 



574 



INDEX 



Bolivar — continued 

cordiality to British, 184, 185, 212, 
227, 243 

gives portrait to Captain Brown, 
236 

ball in honor of, 245 

home of General, 245 

interests himself in Peruvian min- 
ing, 250 
Bolivia, W. Wilson appointed min- 
ister to (1837), 241 
Bowles, Captain, 237 
Boyaca, battle of, 173, 185 
Brazil, English trade with, 49, 291, 
319 

end of English relations with, 56 

Cavendish raids, 63 

attacks on, 70 

Portuguese policy toward, 104 

Jesuits in, 105, 106 

influence of Spanish on policy of, 
281 

British fight Portuguese in, 282 

hostile to British, 282 

offers refuge to Portuguese roy- 
alty, 283 

Portuguese Court arrives in, 287 

receives Prince Joao of Portugal, 
288 

becomes a kingdom, 289 

makes commercial treaty with 
England, 289 

grants ecclesiastical rights to 
British, 289 

invaded by British merchants, 291 

guarded by British fleet, 293, 297 

experience of royalty in, 298, 299 

begins rebellion against Portugal, 
300 

Admiral Cochrane builds up navy 
of, 303 

revolution breaks out in, 305 

revolution is suppressed by Brit- 
ish, 306 

British prize money claims re- 
fused by, 309 

court regulations in, 312, 314, 315 

character of royalty in, 313, 314, 
315 

American Minister resents regula- 
tions of, 314-316 

Portuguese beggars in, 317 

British merchants in, 318-320 

gets first taste of mutton and 
champagne, 323 

hospitality of landowners in, 323- 
324 

British goods fill shops of, 326 

British buy mines in, 326 



Brazil — continued 
establishment of regular army in, 

327 
makes war on Argentina, 328 
treatment of Irish in, 331 
Irish and German soldiers revolt 

against, 333 
appeals to British, French and 

Portuguese ships for help, 333 
Dom Pedro I abdicates throne of, 

341-363 
expiration of British Commercial 

treaty with, 364 
steamer communication line stim- 
ulates British trade, 365 
amount of annual British capital 

engaged in, 365 
Quakers begin anti-slave trade 

campaign in, 369 
first official railway journey in, 

370 
History of Brazil, by Charles 

Brockwell, 432 
History of Brazil, by Robert 

Southey, 446 
History of Brazil, by James Hen- 
derson, 447 
books on the court of, 448 
History of Brazil, by John Armi- 

tage, 455 
Travels in the Interior of, by 

George Gardiner, 458 
Brazil and the Brazilians, by Kid- 
der and Fletcher, 471 
British shipping trade with, 514, 

515, 532 
German trade increases with, 532 
present unpopularity of Germans 

in, 546 
Brion, Admiral, 183, 184 
British, attitude toward South 

American independence, 164, 

165 
enlist in South American War of 

Independence, 168, 170 
in Venezuela, 171 
sickness among, 172 
defeat Spanish, 173 
merchants in South America, 174, 

244, 260 
thanked by Bolivar and Colombian 

Congress, 180 
find treasure at Barcelona, 182 
serve in Bolivar's navy, 183 
oflficers settle in Colombia, 187 
officers in Chilean navy, 203 
friendship for Chileans, 206 
build racecourse at Valparaiso, 

206 



INDEX 



575 



British — continued 

South Americans erect monuments 

to, 213 
surrender to Argentines, 150 
commanders on Pacific Coast, 217, 

218, 236 
officers on staff of Bolivar, 227 
naval warfare with United States, 

239 
consuls appointed to South Amer- 
ica, 240 
population in Valparaiso (1823), 

247 
speculate in Peruvian mines, 249 
vessels survey South American 

coast, 251, 275 
first called "Gringo," 253 
occupations after war of Liber- 
ation, 257, 258, 485 
doctors in South America, 257 
open hotels throughout South 

America, 258 
become South Americans; 259, 267, 

496-498, 528 
shopkeepers in South America, 260 
attracted to Chile, 260 
trade methods with South Amer- 
ica, 264, 527, 533 
exports to South America, 265 
defense against Indians, 268 
win ten years' pearl fishing rights, 

274 
cross South American Continent, 

276 
navigate Huallaga River, 277 
first to navigate Ucayali River, 

278 
allowed to reside, marry and navi- 
gate in Paraguay, 280 
attempt to settle in Brazil, 281 
convoy Portuguese Court to Bra- 
zil, 287 
make commercial treaty with Bra- 
zil, 289 
build their first church in Brazil, 

290 
fleet guards Brazil, 293, 297 
naval commanders' increasing dif- 
ficulties, 300 
sympathies divided in South 

America, 301, 528 
blockade Rio Harbor, 301 
suppress revolution in Brazil, 306 
are cheated of prize money by 

Brazilians, 309 
take Pernambuco and gain prize 

money, 310 
introduce table mutton and cham- 
pagne into Brazil, 322, 323 



British — continued 

stock Brazilian shops with goods, 
326 

buy Brazilian mines (1825), 326 

organize Brazilian cavalry regi- 
ment, 328 

aid Dom Pedro I to escape from 
Brazil, 342-363 

commercial treaty with Brazil ex- 
pires, 364 

capital annually engaged in Bra- 
zil (1853), 365 

introduce slave trade into Brazil, 
365 

attitude toward negro in theory 
and practice, 370 

hotels in Rio, 372 

and French make expedition up 
river Parana, 380 

tortured by Paraguayans, 388 

naturalists in South America, 
395-419 

early geographical works on South 
America by, 427-430 

officers meeting with Bolivar, 451 

as capitalists in South America, 
480 

nitrate industry in Chile, 483 

banking system in South Amer- 
ica, 484 

commimities in South America, 
484-488 

Buenos Aires greatest South 
American center of, 485 

churches and missionaries in 
South America 486-493 

hospital in Buenos Aires, 488 

sheep industry in South America, 
498 

cattle industry in South America, 
500 

develop meat shipping industry in 
South America, 500 

sport in South America, 511 

shipping and railway achieve- 
ments, 512-524 

coffee trade with Brazil, 516 

prestige in South America due to 
their railways, 517 

lay first cable to South America, 
523 

build tramways in South America, 
524 

financial assistance to South 
America, 525, 526 

good faith in South America, 530- 
531 

trade falls off with South Amer- 
ica, 531, 533, 535 



576 



INDEX 



British — continued 

trade fight with Germans in South 
America, 541 

future relations with South 
Americans, 549 
Brockwell, History of Brazil, by 

Charles 432 
Brown, Adniiral William, 229-231 

founds Argentine navy, 229 

destroys Spanish fleet, 229 

blockades Callao, 230 

captures Guayaquil, 230 

taken prisoner, 231 

exchanged for governor of Guaya- 
quil, 231 
Brown, Captain Thomas, 236 

sails for South America, 236 

receives Bolivar's portrait, 236 

wins General Rodil's friendship, 
237 
Bucaneers, origin of, 80 
history of, 86-91 

Basil Ringrose, 90 

Captain Sharp, 91 

Captain Dampier, 93 

Sir Henry Morgan, 94 
Buenos Aires, slave establishments 
in, 108 

capture by British, 145 

surrender by British of, 146 

takes possession of Falkland Is- 
lands, 162 

Scottish milkmaids introduced to, 
258 

blockaded by Anglo-French squad- 
ron, 378, 380 

character of squadron of, 383 

"Narrative of a Journey from 
Santiago to," 443 

greatest British South American 
community in, 485 
Burton, South American books by 

Sir Richard, 475 
Byron, Commodore, 131 



Cable, British lay first South Amer- 
ican (1874), 523 

Cabot, Sebastian, story of, 11 

Cabral, Pedro Alvarez, 4, 282 

Cacafuego, capture of, 35 

Callao, Admiral William Brown 
blockades, 230 
frigate Briton visits, 240 

Campbell, Vice Admiral, 130 

Cape of Good Hope, expedition to, 
143 

Cape Town, capture of, 144 



Carabobo, battle of (1821), 180 
Caracas, premature capitulation of, 

181 
Carrera, Josg Miguel, 194 
opposes Colonel Mackenna, 194 
obtains control of Chile, 195 
deserts O'Higgins at Rancagua, 

195 
kills Colonel Mackenna in duel, 
196 
Cartagena, capture of, 36, 174 

game hunting in, 270 
Cavalry, capture of British vessel 
by South American, 147 
feats in war of South American, 

148 
William Miller commands Peru- 
vian, 209 
Cavendish, Thomas, career of, 61 

cruelty of, 62 
Chagres, character of river, 252 
Chamberlayne, tragic death of Cap- 
tain, 180 
Champagne, Brazil introduced to, 

323 
Chanticleer, voyage of the, 251, 252 
Character, Drake, 34, 37 
Edward Fenton, 56 
Thomas Cavendish, 62, 63 
Straits of Magellan, 66, 131 
James Lancaster, 69 
Sir Walter Raleigh, 74, 77- 
Antonio de Berreo, 75 
Orinoco River, 75 
Gondomar, 79 
of the Bucaneers, 82-92 
Sir Henry Morgan, 94, 95 
Ambrose O'Higgins, 112, 190 
Commodore George Anson, 127 
Vice-Admiral Campbell, 131 
Portuguese, 131, 143, 282 
British missionaries, 137, 247, 

489-493 
Brazilian soldiers, 143, 283, 305, 

335 
English in Buenos Aires, 146 
Lieutenant-General Whitelock, 150 
Argentines, 151, 202 
Guiana, 159, 160 
South American document, 165 
Latin Americans, 165, 248, 256 
San Martin, 167, 199, 215, 216, 

217 
South American War of Inde- 
pendence, 168, 169 
Colombians, 169, 170 
British troops in South America, 

174 
General English, 175 



INDEX 



577 



Character — continued 

General Devereiix, 176-179 
Irish Legion, 179 
Admiral Brion, 183, 184 
Liberator Bolivar, 167, 184-186, 

243, 246, 451 
Mrs. English, 186 
Bernardo O'Higgins, 190, 191, 192 
Colonel John Mackenna, 193 
Jose Miguel Carrera, 194, 195, 196 
Admiral Cochrane, 197-199, 303, 

304, 310 
Lady Cochrane, 200 
the Gaucho, 201, 252 
William Miller, 202 
Chilean fleet, 204 
Peruvian cavalry, 209, 210 
British naval officers in South 

America, 218, 301, 302 
Benavides, 218, 219, 226 
Peneleo, 222 
Araucanian Indians, 223, 267, 268, 

277 
Admiral William Brown, 229 
General Eodil, 242 
South American society, 256 
British in South America, 259, 

321, 441, 504, 528, 530, 540 
South American priests, 263, 413 
South American trade, 264, 527 
a Colombian dinner, 272 
Prince Joao of Portugal and Bra- 
zil, 84, 295, 297, 299, 319 
British merchants in Brazil, 291, 

318, 320 
British military rule in Brazil, 

306, 307 
the Brazilians, 320, 321, 322, 323, 

366 
sailors in Brazilian navy, 303 
Irish immigrants to Brazil, 329, 

332 
Brazilian Court, 312, 313, 314, 

315, 316 
Emperor Pedro I, 313, 328, 331, 

337, 339, 341-363 
Empress Amelie of Brazil, 345, 

347, 357, 361 
slave trade in Brazil, 365, 366, 

368 
General Eosas, 376, 377, 382 
river fleets of Buenos Aires and 

Montevideo, 383 
the Santafecinos, 384 
Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia, 384 
Francisco Solano Lopez, 386, 387 
warfare in Paraguay, 387 
South American revolutions, 388, 

389 



Character — continued 

tropical forests of South America, 
396 

a naturalist in South America, 
397 

Charles Waterton, 397^04 

the Amazon Valley, 408, 409 

Henry Bates, 410, 411 

A. R. Wallace, 414 

Richard Hakluyt, 424, 425 

early British South American 
books, 427-434 

early British South American au- 
thors, 440 

Charles Mansfield, 462-470 

Paraguay, 467-468 

British enterprise in South Amer- 
ica, 482 

the Spanish South American, 495 

the Irish in South America, 503 

British railroad pioneers, 518-519 

British progress in South Amer- 
ica, 526 

the Germans in South America, 
530, 537, 541 

success to-day in South America, 
536 

necessary for a commercial trav- 
eler in South America, 538 

German South American diplo- 
macy, 542 

British diplomats in South Amer- 
ica, 543 

United States' South American 
trade policy, 548 
Charles, Colonel, 208 
Chile, census of (1788), 103 

governed by Ambrose O'Higgins, 
113 

Bernardo O'Higgins arrives in, 
190 

Bernardo O'Higgins becomes dic- 
tator of, 192 

Jos§ Carrera obtains control of, 
195 

British command navy of, 203, 
204 

attracts British trade, 260 

"Journal of a Residence in," 
444 

nitrate industry in, 483 

direct steamship line between 
England and, 513 

first South American railroad in, 
520 
Chilton, John, 35 
Churches, British, in South America, 

486-493 
Clipperton, Captain, 97 



578 



INDEX 



Cochrane, Admiral Lord, 166, 197, 
268, 269, 302, 303 
Colombians described by, 169 
Chilean navy founded by, 198 
Spanish navy conquered by, 198 
breaks with San Martin, 199 
popularity of Lady, 199, 207 
gives banquet to Chileans, 206 
builds up Brazilian navy, 303 
attacks port of Bahia, 303, 305 
methods employed by, 304 
drives Portuguese from Brazil, 

305 
suppresses Brazilian revolution, 

306 
made Marquis of Maranhao, 308 
Emperor Pedro refuses prize 

money to, 309 
suppresses revolution at Pernam- 

buco, 310 
sails for England with prize 

money, 310 
"Journal of a Residence and 
Travels in Colombia," by, 452 
Cockaram, Martin, of Plymouth, 18 
Cockburn, Alexander, 241 
"Cock Mass," description of the, 453 
"Cockney" Sam, 381 
Coffee, trade with Brazil, 516 
Coleman, Nicholas, 102 
Colombians, character of, 169, 170, 
272, 452 
Irish enlist with, 170, 171 
rations in army of, 171, 172 
climate and conditions of, 172 
announcement of freedom of, 186 
Alexander Cockburn appointed 
British minister to (1826), 241 
mountain crossing methods of, 263 
sacred lake of, 270 
typical dinner of the, 272 
early costume of the, 274 
fandango dance of the, 452 
Columbus, voyages of, 4 
Condor, adventure of a Cornish 
miner with a, 261 
attacks Richard Spruce and com- 
panion, 418 
Convicts, meet missionaries at Mon- 
tevideo, 136 
Cook, Captain, 134, 252, 282 
Comwallis, voyage of H.M.S., 138 
Cotton, Edward, 59 
Courtney, Captain Stephen, 95 
Cricket, introduced at Valparaiso, 
206 

D 

da G9,ma, Vasco, 4 



d'Almeida, history of Joao, 105 

Dampier, Captain, 4, 93 

d'Arset, story of Anna, 8 

Darwin, experiences in South Amer- 
ica of Charles, 404-408 
"Voyage of a Naturalist" by, 454 

Davie, adventures in South America, 
of John, 436 

de Berreo, Antonio, Spanish gov- 
ernor of Guinea, 75 

de Castro, Don Beltran, victory of, 
43 

de Courcy, Admiral, 297 

de Francia, Gaspar Rodriguez, 384- 
386 

Delight, voyage of the, 60 

de Navares, Heronima, letter of, 37 

de Rute, Juan, 17 

de Souza, Martin Alonzo, 59 

Desire, voyage of the, 63 

Devereux, career of General, 176-178 

Dias, Francisco, 202, 204 

Dinner, a typical Colombian, 272 

Diplomat, character of German 
South American, 541 
necessary characteristics of the 
British South American, 544 

Document, South American (1797), 
164, 165 

Dona Maria, Queen of Portugal, 
346, 360 

Drake, fate of John, 56, 57 

Dream, Drake's, 35 

Dutch, English join with, 72 



E 



el Dorado, Sir Walter Raleigh seeks, 

74 
Elizabeth, Queen, shows favor to 

Drake, 29, 36, 526 
renames Hawkins' ship, 42 
English, Expedition to Venezuela by 

General, 175 
character of Mrs., 186 
Colombia's freedom announced at 

home of Mrs., 186 
language, as taught to Don Pedro 

I, 339 
Englishmen, regarded as pirates, 55 
circumnavigate the world, 29, 62 
in service of Spain, 102 
aid revolution in South 'America, 

142 
emigrate to Guiana, 157 
volimteer in Argentine revolution, 

196 
get pearl fishing rights, 274 
as shopkeepers in Brazil, 320 



INDEX 



679 



Englishmen — contirmed 
empressed into Buenos Aires 
squadron, 383 
Esmeralda, capture of frigate, 198 

Lautero's fight with, 204 
Esquemeling, history of freebooting 
by, 85, 80 
"Bucaniers of America," by, 426 



F 



Fahy, Father, 487 

Falkland, founding of islands of 
(1766), 161 
British ejected from, 161 
restored by Spain to England, 161 
description of, 161 
Argentina takes possession of, 162 
becomes penal settlement, 162 
present prosperity luider British 

of, 162 
naval battle of, 162 
Dr. Samuel Johnson on, 433 
books on, 480 
Fandango, as danced in Colombia, 

452 
Fenten, disastrous voyage of Ed- 
ward, 51 
fights with Spanish fleet, 55 
Ferguson, escape of Colonel, 226 
Fields, Father Thomas, 106 
Forest, characteristics of the South 

American, 396, 405-407 
French, English join with, 72 
aid Dom Pedro I to escape from 

Brazil, 344-363 
aid Queen of Portugal to escape 

from Brazil, 358-360 
and British blockade Buenos 

Aires, 378 
early illustrations of South Amer- 
ican Indians by the, 431 
Friendship, English and Portuguese 
end, 47 
of Bolivar for the English, 227 
Frobisher, Martin, 36 
Fructuoso, Gaspar, 10 



G 



Galleon, capture by Anson of Ma- 
nila, 130 
Game, types of South American, 270 
Garibaldi, South American service 

of, 378, 379 
Gas, Bogota first illuminated by, 187 
Gauchos, habits of the, 201, 252, 

406, 473, 474 
Gaunt, John of, 6 



Germans, in South America, 328, 
530 
employed as troops by Brazilians, 

328 
revolt against their officers, 333 
increase trade greatly with South 

America, 532 
compete with British in South 

America, 537, 541 
methods and organization in 

South America of, 541, 542 
prosperity of South Ainerican, 

545 
unpopular to-day in Brazil, 546 
future policy in South America of, 
547 
Goats, abolishment on Juan Fernan- 
dez of, 89 
on island of Juan Fernandez, 126 
Gondomar, 79 
Gongo Soco, mines bought by the 

British, 326 
Gordon, Geographical Grammar by, 

427-429 
Grenfell, Admiral, 335-337 
Gringo, origin of word, 253 
Grubb, W. Barbrooke, the "Living- 
stone of South America," 491 
Guanaco, hunt of, 133 
Guatavita, lake of, 271 
Guayaquil, capture of, 230 
character of army of, 247 
William Brown exchanged for 
governor of, 231 
Guiana, explorations of, 77, 398 
voyages to, 156 

Raleigh's description of, 156, 398 
cultivates sugar, tobacco, cattle, 

157 
British immigrants to, 157 
series of wars in, 157 
revolt of negroes in, 158 
emancipation of slaves in, 158, 

159 
characteristics of, 159, 160, 399 
books about, 478-480 
Guinea, ship of Edward Cotton 
wrecked on, 60 



Hadfield, "Brazil, the River Plate, 
etc.," by William, 458 

Hakluyt, Richard, account of Span- 
ish prizes by, 45 
collection of South American voy- 
ages by, 423-425 

Hall, Captain Basil, 166, 448 * 



680 



INDEX 



Hall — continued 

friendship with San Martin, 215, 

238 
bandits' experience with, 217 
adventure with Penele6, 221, 222 
records life on South American 

Pacific Coast, 239, 448 
account of a Chilean ball by, 244 
Hamilton, sole right to navigate 
steam vessels on Orinoco given 
to Colonel James, 187 
Harcourt, Robert, 77 
Hart-Dyke, exploit of Admiral, 390- 

392 
Hastings, Gilbert of, 5 
Hawkins, William, 4, 8, 11, 16, 17 
Sir John, 14, 19, 37 
Sir Richard, son of John, 40, 42 
observations of Sir Richard, 426 
Heath, "Jolly," 373 
Helps, "Spanish Conquest of Amer- 
ica," by Sir Arthur, 458 
Henry, Prince, the Navigator, 6, 7 
Hispaniola, Island of, 21 
Hotels, British establish South 
American, 258 
Rio famous for British, 372, 373 
Huallaga, river, 277 
Huantajaya, story of lady of, 210 
Himt, R. J., the South American In- 
dian missionary, 491 



Illustrations, in early British geo- 
graphical works, 431 
Independence, South American War 

of, 164 
British leaders in War of, 166, 

197 
British seamen in War of, 183 
Bernardo O'Higgins enlists in War 

of, 191 
Colonel Mackenna enlists in War 

of, 194 
Captain Basil Hall records first 

years of War of, 238 
complications with United States 

in War of, 239 
chief benefit from the War of, 264 
Indians, South American, 13, 267, 

268, 270, 277, 278, 413, 414, 417, 

491 
prove friendly to Drake, 32 
are friendly to Captain Wallis, 

133 
Araucanian, 219 
in Chilean service, 223 
war exercises of, 223 



Indiana — continued 

New Testament translated for 
Peruvian, 247 

sacred lake of, 270 

incident of Darwin with Fuegian, 
407 

Wallace describes customs of for- 
est, 414 

missionaries to, 491 
Inquisition, established in Lima, 19 

in Lima, 102, 246 
Invalids, taken on Anson expedition, 

118 
Investments, British, in South Amer- 
ica to-day, 526 
Irish, in Spanish America, 109, 110, 
487 

South American partnership with, 
110 

enlist for Venezuelan service, 170, 
171, 176 

capture town of Rio de la Hacha, 
179 

thanked by Bolivar and Colombian 
Congress, 180 

in command of first settlement in 
Brazil, 281 

duped into immigration to Brazil, 
328-330 

Brazil's treatment of the, 331 

mutiny against Brazilians, 332 

sent back from Brazil to Ireland, 
334 

domestic servants come to South 
America, 485 

28,000 Irish in Argentine Repub- 
lic (1865), 485 

sheep farmers found college at 
Buenos Aires, 487 

prosperity in river Plate district, 
487, 503 
Islands, Porto Santo, 4 

Madeira, 4 

of Santa Catherina, 120, 121 

Pitcairn's, 134 

Falkland, 161, 162 

of Tocujos, 281 

of Trinidad, 293 



Jesuits, in Brazil, 105, 106 
fight with bucaneers, 107 
Joao, Prince of Portugal and King 
of Brazil, 283-289, 295, 296 
opens commercial exchange with 
Britain, 319 
Johnston, Rock-salt mines granted 
to Colonel, 187 



INDEX 



581 



Journey, of Lieutenant Smyth and 

F. Lowe, 275-279 
Juan Fernandez, significance of is- 
land of, 88, 98 
Anson's visit to, 123, 125, 126 
American ship visits, 135 
first hermit of, 94 
Judith, Drake's first ship, 24 



K 



Keymis, Captain, 77 

King James I, grants patent to Eob- 
ert Harcourt for all country be- 
tween Amazon and Essequibo, 
77 

Kingsley, admiration for Charles 
Mansfield of Charles, 461 



Lancaster, Blanche of, 6 

James, history of, 69 
Las Casas, Bishop, 13 
Lautaro, Chilean frigate, 203 
Ledger, llama transported to Aus- 
tralia by, 508-510 
Leigh, Captain, 77 
Liberation, Northern War of, 170- 
187 
British engaged in War of, 170 
end of War of, 187 
Benavides in War of, 218 
Captain Hall records War of, 238 
conditions after War of, 248 
occupations of British after War 
of, 257 
Lima, inquisition in, 19, 102, 246 
San Martin captures, 216-217 
bull fighting at, 236 
theater in, 238 
ladies of, 240 

Consul Eowcroft killed in, 241 
stage coach established in, 242 
ball in honor of Bolivar in, 245 
Englishman superintends mint of, 
249 
Liman, Richard, 102 
Limon, Richarte, 17 
Lisbon, capture of city of, 4 
Llama, transported first to Aus- 
tralia (1858), 508-510 
Lopez, Carlos Antonio, orders Brit- 
ish to build railroads in Para- 
guay, 521 
Francisco Solano, 386-388, 469 
permits British to enter Para- 
guay, 465 



Lopez — continued 

renews work on railroads (1886), 

522 
Lowe, South America crossed bv F., 

275 ^ 

Lynch, Madame Eloisa, 387 



M 



Machico, town of, 10 
Machin, story of Robert, 8 
Mackenna, Colonel John, 193-196 
McGregor, Sir Gregor, 170 
Madeira, discovery of, 10 
Anson's fleet stops at, 120 
Wallis' fleet stops at, 133 
twice occupied and twice restored 
by British, 630 
Manby, Bogota illuminated by gas 

by Colonel, 187 
Mansfield, career of Charles B,, 461- 
471 
character of, 462, 550 
Marriage, of Philippa to King John 
of Portugal, 6 
of Mary of England to Phillip II 
of Spain, 103 
Martilini, Captain Roberton's blood- 
feud with, 224 
taken prisoner to France, 225 
Martinez, Juan Apostol, 202 
Maw, Lieutenant H. Lister, first 
Englishman to descend Ama- 
zon, 454 
Mendoza, Pedro de, 12, 17 

life in, 202 
Miller, General, 166 

William, 202-213, 368 
Mines, Colonel Johnston granted 
rock-salt, 187 
English speculate in Peruvian, 

249, 251 
South America invaded by men 

from Cornish, 261, 262 
Imperial Brazilian Mining Asso- 
ciation of London buys, 326 
British, in South America, 482 
Miranda, General, the South Amer- 
ican patriot, 142 
places South American Document 

before British Cabinet, 165 
son of, 274 
Missionaries, meet convicts, 136, 435 
found Lancasterian schools, 247 
translate New Testament for In- 
dians, 247 
fail to convert Fuegians, 407 
in South America, 489-493 



582 



INDEX 



Missionaries — continued 

first missionary society in South 
America established (1814), 490 
Monkey, characteristics of the howl- 
ing, 409 
Montevideo, convicts and mission- 
aries meet at, 136 
British besiege, 149 
Spanish fleet simk off, 229 
Gauchos besiege, 252 
blockaded by Admiral Brown 

(1843), 378 
besieged by Argentina, 381, 385 
cholera sweeps, 390 
description of ladies of, 438 
British population of, 488 
paved with British flag-stones, 488 
Monuments, British honored by 

South Americans with, 213 
Morality, of John Hawkins, 21 

of Bolivar, 186 
Morgan, Sir Henry, 82, 94 
Morphi, Don Carlos, governor of 

Paraguay (1766), 109 
Murray, Reverend J. H., visits Uru- 
guay and Argentina, 488, 489 
Musicians, on the Pelican, 31 

loaned by Captain Rogers to the 
Portuguese, 96 
Mutiny, on voyage of Captain Am- 
brose, 122 



N 



Narbrough, Admiral Sir John, 427 
Naturalist, the British, in South 
America, 395-419 

"Voyage of a Naturalist," by 
Charles Darwin, 454 

"A Naturalist on the River Ama- 
zon," by Bates, 458 
Navigators, Iberian, Portuguese, 4 

Prince Henry the Navigator, 6 

English, 14 

obtained first records of South 
America, 423 
Navy, founding of Chilean, 198 

Pacific Ocean cleared of Spanish, 
198, 207 

British officers command Chilean, 
203-205 

deeds of Chilean, 207 

founding of Argentine, 229 

Admiral Brown commands Argen- 
tine, 247 

Admiral Cochrane builds up Bra- 
zilian, 303 

type of sailor in Brazilian, 303 

character of Argentine, 376 



Negroes, introduction into South 
America, 13, 20 

imported to Buenos Aires, 108 

revolt in Guiana, 158 

great size of Bahia, 286 

use warming pans as sugar skim- 
mers, 292 

story of the "diamond" and the, 
324 

Brazilian army largely composed 
of, 328 

of Rio attack Irish, 330-333 

well treated in Brazil as slaves, 
366 

purchase freedom from Brazil and 
return to Africa, 369 
New Testament, translated for Peru- 
vian Indians, 247 
Nitrates, British South American 
industry in, 483 



Ogilby, "History of South America" 

by John, 426 
O'Higgins, Ambrose, career of, 110- 

114, 190 
Bernardo, career of, 114, 115, 189- 

193 
O'Leary, career of Colonel, 227 
Orinoco, Sir Walter Raleigh sails 

up, 74, 75 
Osomo, Colonel Mackenna becomes 

governor of, 193 
Oxenham, story of John, 27 
Oysters, British get exclusive rights 

to fish for pearl, 274 



Padilla, succeeds Admiral Brion, 184 
Paez, guerilla leader, 168, 173 

wins battle of Carabobo with aid 
of British and Irish, 180 
Panama, the "golden road" of, 86 
sack of, 94 

failure of British at, 129 
astronomical observations taken 

at, 252 
British consulate at, 269 
Paraguay, English settle at, 103 
description of a ball in, 469 
exclusion of foreigners from, 104 
missionary work in, 490 
Father Fields in, 107 
Don Carlos Morphi, governor of, 

109 
Great Britain makes treaty with 
(1845), 280 



INDEX 



583 



Paraguay — continued 

foimding of despotic rule in, 385 
visited by Charles Mansfield, 461- 

471 
Australian colony in, 506 
introduces railroads (1854), 521 
Payta, capture by Anson, 128 
Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil, 313, 328, 
331, 337 
abdication and flight of, 340-363 
Pedro II, the Emperor, visits a 
United States steamer, 299 
first and only white monarch born 

on American soil, 348 
acclaimed as Emperor by Rio de 
Janeiro, 353 
Pelican, Drake's ship, 30 

name changed to Golden Hind, 33 
Peneleo, Captain Hall's adventure 

with, 221 
Penguin, Island; ship Delight 
touches at, 60 
men from ship Desire kill 14,000 
penguins, 66, 68 
Perestrello, Bartholomeu, 4 
Pernambuco, Lancaster seeks, 70 
Admiral Cochrane suppresses rev- 
olution at, 310 
Pert, Sir Thomas, 16 
Peru, Bernardo O'Higgins, Viceroy 
of, 114, 115, 189 
William Miller commands cavalry 

of, 209 
San Martin's policy in, 215 
New Testament translated for In- 
dians of, 247 
English speculate in mines of, 249, 

251 
aids British to cross continent, 

276 
acknowledges value of British sur- 
veys, 279 
origin of "The Present State of 

Peru" (1805), 434 
"Conquest of Peru," by W. H. 
Prescott, 457 
Philip, of Spain, 29 
Pig, Sir Francis Head's story of the, 

442 
Pitcairn's Island, discovery of, 134 
Placentia, Island of, 67 
Plate, River, 57, 58, 236 

British expedition to, 141, 144, 

152 
William Brown's ship wrecked at 

mouth of, 229 
naval actions in, 382 
Robertson expedition to river, 
385 



Plate — continued 

"States of River Plate," by Wil- 
fred Latham, 473 
condition of Irish in, 487 
Pope, Alexander VI delimits globe 
between Spanish and Portu- 
guese, 19 
Popham, Sir Home, 143-149 
Porter, Sir R. Ker, 241 
Portuguese, end of friendship with 
English, 47 
Lancaster refuses to treat with, 73 
cordiality to English, 95 
armed collisions with English in 

Brazil, 281, 282 
Court moves to Brazil, 285 
abandon port of Bahia to Brazil- 
ians, 305 
control ends in Brazil, 305 
beggars in Brazil, 317 
have a king (Dom Pedro I) for 
six days, 338 
Prescott, "Conquest of Peru," by W. 

H., 457 
Preston, Captain Amyas, 77 
Priests, hostile to British in South 
America, 183 
character of some South Ameri- 
can, 263, 413 
Prisoners, Spanish and English ex- 
change, 140 
fate of British, in South Amer- 
ica, 154 
Puerto Cabello, capture of, 186 

Q 

Quakers, begin anti-slave trade cam- 
paign in Brazil (1852), 369 

R 

Race-Course, Pacific Coast's first 

regular, 206 
Raids, by English on Spanish com- 
merce, 44 
Railroads, British prestige in South 
America due to their, 517 
difficulties of building South 

American, 519 
William Wheelwright founder of 

South American, 520 
Chile gets first of South Amer- 
ican, 520 
introduced into Paraguay (1854), 
521 
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 4, 74, 78, 79 
description of Brazil by, 76 
description of Guiana by, 156, 
426, 427 



584» 



INDEX 



Raleigh — continued 
description of South American In- 
dian by, 431 
Rancagua, battle of, 195 
Recife, capture of, 71 
Rennie, practical jokes of Mr., 269 
Revolution, beginnings of South 
American, 142 
British assist South American, 

152, 196 
Irish assist South American, 170, 

171 
battle of Carabobo, 180 
conditions following, 238 
chief benefit of the, 264 
character of a South American, 
388-390 
Ringrose, Basil, 90, 92 
Rio de Janeiro, Captain Rogers's 
expedition to, 95 
Portuguese Court arrives at, 288 
British church built at, 290 
British mercantile community at, 

291, 321 
opera or ballet in, 298 
blockaded by British fleet, 301 
commercial exchange opened in 

(lo20), 319 
English pot-houses at, 322 
table mutton introduced at, 322 
Irish immigrants arrive at, 329, 

330 
German and Irish uprising in, 

333 
acclaims little emperor, Dom 

Pedro II, 353 
rioting in, 357 
slave market glutted, 367 
British hotels famous in, 372 
direct steamship line from South- 
ampton to, 516 
British post ofiice in, 517 
Rio de la Hacha, storming of, 25 

capture by Irish Legion of, 179 
Riquelme, Isabel, mother of Ber- 
nardo O'Higgins, 189 
Roberton, career of Captain, 224, 

225 
Robertson, Dr. William, writes 
standard work on South Amer- 
ica, 434 
Rodil, Spanish general, 237, 241, 

242 
Rogers, Captain Woodes, 95, 96 
Rosas, General, 376, 382 
Royal Mail, Steam Packet Company 

extends service to Brazil, 515 
Rush, exploit of Captain, 180 
Rutter, John, 102 



S 



St. Lawrence, British despoil tomb 

of, 182 
San Juan de Ulloa, fight at, 25 
San Julian, execution at, 32 
San Martin, career of, 167, 199, 215- 

217, 257 
Santa Catherina, island of, 121 
Santaf6cinos, character of the, 384 
Santiago, Chilean capital of, 205, 
242 
receives William Miller, 205 
Benavides hanged in, 223 
Santos, Portuguese-English troubles 
at, 47, 53 
captured by Cavendish (1591), 
63 
Sao Vicente, burning by Cavendish 

of, 64 
Schools, South America introduced 
to Lancasterian, 247 
public examination in schools at 
Bogota, 273 
Scotch, colony in South America, 

498 
Selkirk, Alexander, abandonment 

and rescue of, 94, 97 
Sheep, British South Americans be- 
gin to raise, 498, 499 
Slave Trade, foiuider of negro, 7 
beginnings of, 21 
in eighteenth century, 108 
extended to all South America, 

108 
abolished in Guiana, 158 
introduced by British into Brazil, 

365 
conditions of Brazilian, 366 
Sloth, picturesque description of 

the, 430, 456 
Smith, Sir W. Sydney, 284, 287, 289, 

293, 295-297 
Smuggling, by English vessels, 108 
Smyth, journey across. South Amer- 
ica by Lieutenant, 275 
Snake, capture of the great Coula- 

canara, 400-402 
Sobremonte, Viceroy of Buenos 
Aires surrenders to British, 145 
Society, Bogota center of Anglo- 
South American, 186 
character of South American, 256 
South America, colonial period in, 
101 
criminals in, 109 
greatest British subject in, 114 
beginnings of revolution in, 142 
fate of British prisoners in, 153 



INDEX 



585 



South America — continued 
asks British military aid, 165 
Admiral Cochrane commiands 

navy of, 166 
conditions of soldiering in, 172 
erects monuments to British, 213 
popularity of Captain Thomas 

Brown in, 236 
receives British consuls, 240 
diplomatically equipped, 241 
courtesy and hospitality in, 243 
Lancasterian schools established 

in, 247 
mining boom in, 250 
British survey coast of, 251, 275 
character of society in, 256 
British occupations in, 257 
Cornish miners come to, 261 
British trade methods with, 264, 

527 
table habits in, 266 
shooting game in, 270 
sport in, 271, 511 
Lieutenant Smyth and F. Lowe 

cross, 275 
position of foreigner in, 374 
grimmest chapter in history of, 

388 
policy of revolutions in, 388, 389, 

390 
British naturalists in, 395-419 
nature of tropical forests in, 

396 
visited by Charles Darwin, 404- 

408 
in English print, 421-480 
John Ogilby's history of, 426 
early British ignorance of, 427- 

434 
as illustrated in early British 

books, 431 
"Letters on," by J. P. and W. P. 

Robertson, 445 
"Wanderings in," by Charles 

Waterton, 454 
British financing of, 482, 525 
nitrate industry in, 483 
British banking system in, 484 
church and missionaries in, 486- 

493 
Scotch colony in, 498 
sheep raising and cattle industry 

in, 498-500 
meat-shipping industry in, 500 
Welsh colony in, 506 
influence of British sport on, 511 
British shipping and railway 

achievements in, 512-524 
first cable laid to (1874), 523 



South America — contin/ued 

British financial assistance to, 

525, 526 
nature of British progress in, 526 
Germans in, 530 
British good faith in, 530, 531 
British trade falls oflf with, 531, 

533 
British diplomats in, 543 
present German unpopularity in, 

546 
future German policy in, 547 
United States trade policy toward, 

548 
future relations of British with, 

549-551 
Spain, raiding of commerce to, 44 
openly at war with England, 62 
policy toward bucaneers, 81 
South American policy of, 102, 

135, 169 
Admiral Cochrane conquers navy 

of, 198 
last stronghold in South America 

(Lima) captured, 217 
treatment of British prisoners by, 

226 
William Brown destroys fleet of, 

229 
General Eodil, last hope of, 237, 

242 
policy of Brazil influenced by, 281 
Spaniards, enmity against English, 

25, 37, 422, 423 
attack Ajidrew Barker expedition, 

39 
courtesy to Sir Richard Hawkins, 

44 
courage against bucaneers, 86 
methods in South American War 

of Independence, 169 
deprived of property and social 

position, 246 
Spruce, Richard, botanist, explores 

South America, 415-419 
Straits, of Magellan, 33, 64, 133 
Sugar Loaf, Mountain, ascents of, 

372 
Summers, Captain George, 77 
Sumpter, American Minister, resents 

Brazilian regulations, 315 
Superstition, of the English, 41 
of the Indians, 271 
of the Irish, 332 
Surrender, of British to the Argen- 
tines, 150 



Tagus river, 4, 6, 7 



586 



INDEX 



Talmayancu, Araucanian Indian, 
202 ~ 

Teola, German regiment kills their 
Brazilian major, 332 

Theater, in Lima, 238 
in Rio de Janeiro, 298 

Tierra del Fuego, visited by Cap- 
tain Cook, 135 

Tinian, island of, 130 

Tison, Thomas, 17 

Tocujos, British settlement on is- 
land of, 281 
fight between British and Portu- 
guese at, 282 

Tortuga, island of, 84 

Tramways, British South American 
system of, 523 

Treasure, British find Barcelona, 
182 

Treaty, of Windsor (1386), 6 

Trinidad, British locate island of, 
293 

Tristao, Nufio, 4 



U 



Ucayli, British first navigators of 

river, 278 
United States, South American 

trade policy of, 548 
Uruguay, British in, 488 

first railroad in (1868), 523 
Uruguayana, the, 388 
Ushant, 6 
Utrecht, treaty of, 108 



Valparaiso, Colonel Mackenna made 

governor of, 194 
Lord Cochrane arrives at, 205 
first regular race-course in South 

America at, 206 
cricket and life in, 206, 207 
prominent British merchants in, 

237 
account of a ball at, 244 
British population in 1823 of, 

247 
Venezuela, climate and conditions 

in, 172 
General English's force in, 175 
General Devereux's force in, 177 
Sir R. Ker Porter appointed 

Charge d' Affaires to (1835), 

241 
Cornishmen employed in mines 

of, 262 
first railroad (1873) in, 523 



Venner, Captain, 71 
Voyages, Columbus, 4 

English, 4 

first equatorial, 8 

William Hawkins, 17 

Robert Reniger, 19 

Thomas Borey, 19 

Thomas Pudsey, 19 

Sir John Hawkins, 19, 22, 23 

Sir Francis Drake, 23, 26, 36 

around the world by Drake 
(1577), 29 

Golden Hind, 35 

last expedition of Drake (1595), 
37 

Andrew Barker, 38 

Richard Hawkins, 40 

Edward Fenton, 51 

Robert Withrington, 58 

Delight, 60 

Thomas Cavendish, 61, 63 

James Lancaster, 70 

Sir Walter Raleigh, 74, 78 

Captain Woodes Rogers, 95 

Captain Clipperton, 97 

Commodore George Anson, 117- 
131 

Commodore Byron, 131-132 

Captain Wallis, 132-34 

Captain Cook, 134 

H. M. S. Cornwallis, 138 

Sir Home Popham, 143 

General English, 175 

Colonel John Mackenna, 193 

Captain Thomas Brown, 236 

H. M. S. Cambridge, 240-243 

Captain Henry Foster, 250-252 

Agamemnon, 293 

Dom Joao VI, 317 

J. P. Robertson to River Plate, 
385 

Charles Darwin to South Amer- 
ica, 404-408 

Admiral Sir John Narbrough, 426 

"Captain R. Boyle," 432 



W 



Wallace, A. R., explores Amazon re- 
gion, 408, 412-415, 458 

Wallis, Captain, 132 

Warspite, British ship, acts as ref- 
uge for Dom Pedro I of Brazil, 
344-363 

Waterton, career of Charles, 397- 
404, 454 

Welsh, colony in South America, 
506 



INDEX 



587 



Wheelwright, William, introduces 
steam navigation to Pacific 
(1840), 513 
career of, 519-521 
Whitall, John, makes profitable 
Portuguese marriage, 48 
starts British trade with Brazil, 

50 
end of, 59 
Whitelocke, Lieutenant-General, sur- 
renders to the Argentines, 150 



Wilson, career of Colonel Bedford, 
227 
W., minister to Bolivia, 241 
Withen, feat of Major, 186 
Withrington, Robert, 58 



Zarco, Joan Goncalves, 4, 10 



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